Editing Zelda (SSBU)

'''Zelda''' ({{ja|ゼルダ|Zeruda}}, ''Zelda'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. She was confirmed as a playable character along with {{SSBU|Sheik}} and the rest of veterans on June 12, 2018. Unlike the game's predecessors, she is [[Unlockable character|unlockable]] instead of being available from the [[Starter character|start]]. Zelda is classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #17]].

In a similar vein to her fellow ''Zelda'' fighters {{SSBU|Link}} and {{SSBU|Ganondorf}}, Zelda is now voiced by {{s|wikipedia|Ayumi Fujimura}}, who reprises her role from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds}}'' in all regions, replacing Jun Mizusawa from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', and ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Similar to {{uv|Star Fox}} characters in ''Melee'', the former provides a single line of spoken Japanese dialogue in [[World of Light]]'s opening; this line is dubbed in English by Brandy Kopp, who also voices {{SSBU|Palutena}}.

 

 

 

Overall, Zelda plays a decent zoning game and a strong trapping game, with tools for ledge trapping and controlling space, but her precise hitboxes, inconsistency and poor mobility gives her a weak neutral and disadvantage state, making her a glass cannon with a focus on precision. Zelda is rarely represented in tournaments, but there have been dedicated players, such as {{Sm|Yn}} from Japan, {{Sm|Naskino}} in France, and {{Sm|Ven}} in the United States, with respectable results.

*Clear {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} with {{SSBU|Kirby}} or any character in his unlock tree, being the 4th character unlocked after {{SSBU|Pac-Man}}.

Zelda must then be defeated on [[Temple]] (the [[Ω form]] is used in World of Light).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, Zelda's strengths include fast and powerful out of shield options, good stage control and ledge trapping with Phantom setups, and impressive kill power spread broadly across her moveset. Her weaknesses in mobility, range, frame data, consistency and sweetspot issues require her to be precise with how she spaces her attacks and to make the most out of Phantom ledge traps with proper reads and option coverage. She must be creative in her approaches to overcome her mobility issues when she does not have a lead, and in mixing up what she does to get out of disadvantage due to her floaty nature and lack of safe landing options.

Zelda had historically and consistently been regarded as one of the worst characters (and, at one point in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', the overall worst) in previous games, due to her combination of underwhelming frame data as a whole, a lackluster special moveset, bad hitbox placements, and an undesirable mix of attributes (slow, light, tall, and floaty). While ''SSB4'' had brought updates to her offensive game, her weaknesses remained, causing her to remain unviable. Likely as a result of being a poorly regarded character in previous games, Zelda has been significantly buffed overall in the transition to ''Ultimate''.

 

One of Zelda's biggest buffs is her improved moveset: many of her moves have either reduced lag, better KO potential, or other improvements. Most notably, her aerials have significantly reduced landing lag across the board, making them much more usable. The sweetspots of her kicks are significantly easier to land, and their improved auto-cancel window make them less risky to use; forward aerial's faster startup also makes it a much better out of shield option. Examples of significantly stronger moves include [[forward tilt]], whose increased damage makes the sweetspot safe on shield and one of the strongest of its kind, and [[up aerial]] which is larger and stronger with a new late hit. Her already good grab game was improved to the point it is now among the most useful in the game; her [[back throw|back]] and [[up throw]]s are much stronger, giving her two new viable kill throws among the strongest of their kind.

 

Zelda's special moveset, considered among the most situational in previous games, has seen various improvements. [[Din's Fire]] no longer causes [[helplessness]], has an increased duration and has a larger sweetspot, making it more usable, albeit still situational. [[Farore's Wind]] has faster startup and execution and reduced vulnerability, making it a more effective out of shield and punish option; it has more precise angles for reappearance to follow opponent DI, making the "elevator" combo more likely to connect, while also being less unsafe if it doesn't. [[Phantom Slash]] is, however, her greatest buffed special and arguably her greatest buff from Smash 4 out of any of her moves. It has less lag and been heavily reworked to possess several more stages that cover a wider variety of ranges, improving its zoning usage, and the last stage allows Zelda to move around before it is unleashed, allowing for intricate trap setups and combos. The Phantom also no longer has any cooldown if destroyed, allowing it to be used much more frequently.

Additionally, Zelda noticeably benefits from some of the universal changes. Her horizontal movement has been improved (both absolutely and relative to the cast) in her increased run speed, air speed, air acceleration and initial dash. The universal 3-frame [[jumpsquat]]s and reduced landing lag improve her noticeably, as they greatly supplement her neutral game, previously one of her main weaknesses. This allows her to approach more reliably and slightly improves her combo potential from fast falled aerials—most notably down aerial, which, due to the removal of teching grounded spikes, gives Zelda a plethora of new combos and kill confirms from the move. The changes to [[air dodging]] also benefit her, as they improve her edgeguarding game with moves like Din's Fire, which also improves her ledge trapping game by forcing low recoveries and allowing time for a Phantom set up.

However, Zelda has received some mixed changes and nerfs as well, most notably to the combo game of her normals. Neutral attack is drastically smaller and is no longer safe on shield nor has consistent combo potential, removing one of her best neutral and spacing tools. Down tilt is much smaller and has a considerably worse launch angle, hindering its combo ability past mid percents. Neutral aerial especially has been nerfed greatly, with the autolink removal and lower knockback harming the looping hits' consistency, completely removing their drag-down combos and making the launch direction drastically more difficult to control. Down throw's increase in knockback scaling, combined with its more horizontal launch angle removes its 50/50s at high percents.

Other nerfs include her forward tilt, which is much more precise due to its slower startup and narrow hitboxes, and due to the sweetspot losing highest priority and being drastically harder to land, the move is arguably weaker on average despite the damage buffs. Down aerial's late hit is worse at gimping due to its smaller hitboxes. Zelda's dash and pivot [[grab]]s, already below-average in speed, have received even more startup, although her pivot grab has very large range for a non-tether grab and both of them have less ending lag. Farore's Wind is weaker, making the sweetspot especially worse at early KOs, cannot travel as far and is much harder to edge cancel with, hindering one of her movement options.

Although Zelda benefits from some of the changes to the game's engine, other changes have impaired her as well. The new knockback speed-up effect further limits her already nerfed combo moves, as knockback was sped up more than her mobility was increased. The increased [[shieldstun]] both helps and hinders Zelda, as it allows her moves to be more safely spaced, but combined with the universal reductions to landing lag (despite aerials having less shieldstun) and nerfs to shield drop lag and grabs out of shieldstun, it also slightly worsens her out of shield game in some cases. Her air dodges are also now much laggier than average, which worsens her disadvantage state.

Overall, Zelda's moveset has been enhanced from previous installments, making her strengths more defined, especially around Phantom Slash as the new crux of her game plan. The changes overall allow Zelda to fare better than in previous installments, with this incarnation being her strongest one yet. However, she still underperforms compared to the rest of the cast. Nerfs to her combo tools, consistency and precision have tempered her buffs by effectively transferring many of her other moves' usages to Phantom, centralizing her playstyle around the reworked move. Game updates have brought her quality-of-life improvements, mostly making several moves across the board even stronger, while failing to address Zelda's core weaknesses. She still suffers from her more problematic attributes, i.e. her laggy initial dash, low fall speed, low gravity and low weight. Most significantly, many of her normals are worse compared to previous iterations, suffering from lack of utility due to impractically small hitboxes, poor or inconsistent follow-up potential, punishable sourspots and/or heavy ending lag.

{{SSB4 to SSBU changelist|char=Zelda}}

==Update history==

Zelda has been buffed overall via game updates, receiving the biggest changes in update 7.0.0, followed by update 13.0.0. A majority of the changes focused on augmenting the power of her kill moves, with up smash, down smash, up aerial, and especially forward tilt and down special being stronger compared to release. Hitbox buffs made up aerial, down aerial's clean hit and Din's Fire's sweetspot larger, and increased the hitbox duration of up aerial and Din's Fire. Slight frame data buffs reduced the ending lag of her jab by 1 frame and the landing lag of neutral aerial by 3 frames. Multihit angle changes made forward smash more consistent; while also intending to do the same for neutral aerial, its angle changes were a mixed bag in practice, only improving its consistency in some cases, but making the final hit's launch direction much more volatile and thus making auto-cancel combos more difficult.

Aside from the mixed change to neutral aerial's angles, Zelda has also received two minor nerfs, though negligible as the first was eventually negated, and the second was a reversal of a very brief unintended bug. In update 3.0.0, Phantom's shield damage was reduced, but the later 7.0.0 damage buff completely compensated for this. In update 9.0.2, a bugfix removed a shadow buff from the 9.0.1 patch that allowed Zelda to displace the Phantom much more easily, specifically to spawn it in front of her to grant more protection during the charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

''For a gallery of Zelda's hitboxes, see [[/Hitboxes|here]].''

 

{{MovesetTable

|game=SSBU

|neutral1dmg=2.5% (hits 1-2)

|neutraldesc=Extends her palm to emit a burst of magical energy, then optionally follows up with a series of several magical bursts before a finishing blast, which can KO near the edge. Unlike in the previous games, where it was the slowest jab at frame 11, it is now her fastest move at frame 4. It no longer has a third hit, but can start combos on its own at high percents with certain hitboxes.

|ftiltdesc=A magically-infused outward knifehand strike. It can be angled and has two sweetspots at the tip that possess great power. It has three sourspots located on Zelda's arm that take priority over the sweetspots, being noticeably weaker but still having above-average KO power. Its high base knockback makes it especially potent at early KOs near the ledge. The sweetspots KO middleweights at around 83% while near the edge of {{SSBU|Final Destination}}, and the sourspots KO at around 109%. It's safe on shield when spaced with the sweetspot. However, it has noticeable startup lag at frame 12 with an active duration of only two frames, as well as having strict priority and small and narrow hitboxes, making it hard to sweetspot, or even land at all on small or crouching characters, or opponents in the air.

|utiltdesc=Waves her arm in an overhead arcing motion while her hand is infused with magical energy. Due to it hitting on frame 7 and having a long active duration and low ending lag, it is one of Zelda's most reliable combo starters. It can combo into itself, neutral attack and up smash at low percentages, into neutral aerial as well as Lightning Kick from low to medium percentages, and into up aerial at medium percentages out of a reversed up tilt. Its combo potential increases the later the frame on which it hits. It is also a strong anti-air attack thanks to its disjoint, large hitbox and long duration.

|dtiltdesc=A kneeling low-level kick. Due to it hitting on frame 5, it is Zelda's fastest tilt attack and her fastest move to execute. Compared to ''SSB4'', it has smaller range and noticeably less combo potential, mostly serving as a fast, low-committal and low-profiling poke. It can, however, combo into a dash attack and Lightning Kick at mid percentages. It can also be a KO combo into forward or back aerial, especially with poor DI. It is potent in calling out fast grounded approaches and two-framing.

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

|dashdesc=A double palm thrust that emits a blast of magical energy from her hands. The sweetspot lasts for two frames and is located at Zelda's hands. Due to it hitting on frame 6, it is one of the fastest dash attacks in the game. To complement this, its sweetspot's high base knockback allows it KO middleweights at around 120% while near the edge of Final Destination. However, it is small, with its other hitboxes lacking KO potential, and is unsafe especially on shield.

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

|fsmashdesc=A palm thrust that emits a multiple-hitting blast of magical energy. Its last hit's respectable damage output and high knockback growth make it strong enough to KO middleweights at around 75% near the edge of Final Destination. Its multiple hits also make it useful for pressuring shields, especially when it is charged, which combined with its moderate ending lag at 26 frames, makes it hard to punish on shield with good spacing. Due to it hitting on frame 16, however, it has the highest start-up lag out of Zelda's smash attacks.

|usmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBU|2}} (hits 1-4), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBU|0.8}} (hits 5-6), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBU|5}} (hit 7)

|usmashdesc=Waves her arm twice in an overhead fanning motion while her hand is infused with magical energy that hits several times. It hits on frame 9, which is fairly fast for a smash attack and makes it a decent point-blank out of shield option. It has a very long duration, making it good at catching getups and landings, and has a good vertical disjoint. Its last hit KOs aerial middleweights at around 104% from anywhere on Final Destination. However, it has minimal horizontal range and 30 frames of ending lag, thus making it very punishable if not used properly.

|dsmashname=Spinning Low Kick ({{ja|スピニングローキック|Supiningu Rō Kikku}})

|dsmashdesc=A spinning, low-level roundhouse kick. Due to it hitting on frame 5, it is tied with {{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Dr. Mario}}, {{SSBU|Pit}}, {{SSBU|Dark Pit}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}}, and {{SSBU|Ken}}'s down smashes for the second-fastest smash attack of any kind in the game, being surpassed only by {{SSBU|Meta Knight}}'s [[buffer]]ed down smash. It hits on both sides, making it useful for punishing rolls, and the foot hitboxes [[semi-spike]] which is useful for setting up an edge-guard. Although it is Zelda's weakest smash attack, it is still decently strong and has rather moderate ending lag. The front hit deals higher damage, and the sweetspot KOs at around 112% on middleweights near the edge of Final Destination; in comparison, the back hit sweetspot KOs them at around 117%.

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

|nairdesc=Twirls twice with her arms outstretched and her hands infused with magical energy. Due to it hitting on frame 6, it is tied with forward and back aerials for the lowest amount of start-up lag out of Zelda's aerials. It has large hitboxes on both sides with several hits, making it rather versatile; it has a rather high damage output, especially with the front hits, can start combos when [[SHFF]]ed, can string into other moves with good drift in an autocanceled short hop, or can be an edge-guarding option. The last hit has decent knockback for its type, as it can KO middleweights at around 150% at the edge of Final Destination without rage. The moved was changed from Smash 4, resulting in the multi-hits being weaker and less consistent, with opponents sometimes being able to fall out of the multi-hit portion, reducing its consistency and reliability. This issue is most salient if Zelda is fast-falling or drifting away in the multi-hit portion.

|fairdesc=A magically-infused flying kick. Its sweetspot is at the tip of her foot and has both an outstanding damage output and high knockback growth, KOing middleweights at around 59% while near the edge of Final Destination, similarly to Captain Falcon's Knee Smash, though slightly weaker. At frame 6, it's quite fast for its power. Compared to back air, it has slightly less knockback, but autocancels slightly earlier and has less landing lag. However, the sweetspot only lasts for one frame, and the sourspots are very weak and unsafe, even on hit because of their extremely low damage and base knockback. Its considerable ending lag also makes it punishable at low percentages, sometimes even if it is sweetspotted. Due to the aforementioned very low damage and knockback, the sourspot can lock opponents and set up into other moves at high percents but lacks utility otherwise. Autocancels in a full hop fast fall, just one frame after Zelda reaches the peak of her short hop, similarly to Kirby's forward aerial.

|bairdesc=A magically-infused flying kick. It functions identically to forward aerial, with the only difference being that its sweetspot has slightly more base knockback and knockback growth, in exchange for having slightly more landing lag and auto-canceling slightly later. It is the strongest back aerial in the game, with the sweetspot KOing middleweights at around 54% while near the edge of Final Destination. However, it has the highest amount of landing lag out of Zelda's aerials.

|uairdesc=Leans back and turns slightly, extending her arm to create a fiery explosion above her from her index and middle fingers. It is the most damaging and second strongest up aerial in the game, behind Shulk's up aerial if the second hit is sweetspotted. It KOs middleweights at around 100% from a full hop. It has a huge vertical disjoint thanks to its large hitbox and high position, being able to clip through platforms or the bottom of stage edges. It also has a late hit that is weaker but improves its ability to juggle. However, it is slow, hitting on frame 14, which makes it tied with down aerial for the highest amount of start-up lag out of Zelda's aerials. It also has high ending lag (35 frames) and a fairly short horizontal range. It autocancels in a full hop.

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

|dairdmg={{ShortHopDmgSSBU|16}} (clean), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|5}} (late, leg), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|4}} (late, foot)

|dairdesc=A magically-infused stomp, also known as the Lightning Stomp. All of its hitboxes are [[meteor smash]]es and can lock opponents, with its sweetspot being the most powerful among them. Its sourspot lasts deceptively long, allowing it to potentially gimp fighters with poor recoveries, but deals even less knockback than Lightning Kicks' sourspots. It ties for the lowest landing lag out of Zelda's aerials, which allows it to be safe on shield with proper spacing, and enables its sweetspot to reliably start combos on grounded opponents. It hits on frame 14, which ties with up aerial for the highest amount of start-up lag out of Zelda's aerials, but combined with its deceptively long duration and its low ending lag, it's somewhat fast for a meteor smash. Like neutral aerial, it can also autocancel in a short hop.

|grabdesc=Restrains the opponent with magic. Zelda's grabs have long-range and are somewhat disjointed, with her pivot grab being one of the longest non-tether pivot grabs, but also have a noticeable start-up and ending lag.

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

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

|fthrowdesc=Magically pulls the opponent back and then tosses them away. It is useful for sending opponents off stage, even at low percents, thanks to its high base knockback, but due to its low knockback growth lacks KO potential unless extremely close to the horizontal blast zone. However, it can combo into Phantom Slash for high damage or an early KO.

|ssname=Din's Fire

|ssdesc=[[zeldawiki:Din's Fire|Launches a magical fireball]] that slowly accelerates forward. Its trajectory can be altered, albeit marginally, by holding up or down, and releasing the special button causes it to stop and then explode after a moment. It has a large hitbox, and only the explosion can be reflected or absorbed. The longer the button is held down, the farther the fireball will travel, and it will automatically detonate when it reaches its maximum distance. Its sweetspot, which is located in the inner part of the explosion, is quite powerful. When fully charged, the sweetspot can KO middleweights at around 87% while near the edge of Final Destination, but the sourspot is very weak regardless of its charge. While useful off stage on characters with bad recoveries, it is otherwise easily avoidable with an air dodge or simply clanking. Even though it is hard to land itself, it can force the opponent to use an air dodge and recover low/to the ledge.

|usdesc=[[zeldawiki:Farore's Wind|Warps in a given direction]]. It travels a long distance and can be angled omnidirectionally, similarly to Fox's Fire Fox, but is much faster in comparison. It deals damage to nearby opponents both while disappearing and while reappearing, and grants full intangibility during its travel. Its disappearance launches upward, enabling it to combo into its reappearance at various percents when aimed correctly. The reappearance has a sweetspot that deals high damage, high base knockback, and high knockback growth, making it potent at KOing, especially near the upper blast line. Its sweetspotted aerial reappearance can KO middleweights off the top blast zone at around 68% from the initial grounded hit (though heavily dependent on DI and LSI), while the grounded reappearance can KO middleweights at around 71% from the edge of Final Destination. The reappearance has a sourspot that, although large and safe on hit, lacks KO potential, and due to the move incurring [[helpless]]ness, it is punishable if whiffed. It can be edge-canceled, a trait it shares with Sheik's Vanish, Mewtwo's Teleport and Palutena's Warp.

|dsdesc=Conjures a {{s|zeldawiki|Phantom}} piece by piece and propels it forward with another button press. Serves as a projectile with varying attacks of increasing degrees of speed, HP, power and distance. When fully charged, the Phantom can delay its attack for up to about a second, effectively controlling a large space and giving Zelda time to add pressure, perform combined combos or to retreat behind it for protection. When fully charged, the Phantom can KO middleweights at around 84% from the edge of Final Destination. Very versatile and one of Zelda's best options in the neutral game and advantage state.

|fsdesc=Uses the [[zeldawiki:Triforce|Triforce of Wisdom]] to generate a triangular portal that sucks in opponents using massive periodic shockwaves. Upon catching an opponent, they will take heavy damage before either being launched with low knockback, or being instantly KOed if they reach 100% or higher before the final hit. Very difficult to avoid on smaller stages (such as {{SSB|Dream Land}} or [[Mushroom Kingdom II]]), if not effectively impossible, due to its long duration and massive vacuum hitboxes.

 

 

 

 

*'''Down Taunt''': Giggles and waves with a smile.

 

*Brushes her hair while looking back.

*Smiles and performs a pondering gesture with a finger tapping her cheek.

 

|[[File:Zelda Cheer English SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Zelda Cheer Japanese SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Zelda Cheer Italian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Zelda Cheer Dutch SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Zelda Cheer French NTSC SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Zelda Cheer French PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]

 

*'''Right:''' Summons a [[Phantom]] behind her with a snap of her finger and poses with it.

[[File:ZeldaSeriesVictoryThemeUltimate.ogg|thumb|A flourished and abridged remix of the theme that plays when [[Link]] obtains a [[zeldawiki:Triforce|Triforce Piece]] in ''{{iw|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda|Game}}'' and has since become the main theme of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series.]]

 

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*{{Sm|Maipan|Japan}} - The second-best Zelda player in Japan. He is best known for placing 17th at {{Trn|DELTA 8}}, defeating {{Sm|Zackray}} and {{Sm|Tea}} along the way. Although very inconsistent at other events, he had a few other noteworthy events including placing 17th at {{Trn|DELTA 7.5}} and 33rd at {{Trn|Seibugeki 13}} defeating {{Sm|TamaPDaifuku}} in the latter event.

*{{Sm|Naskino|France}} - The best Zelda player in Europe is a top 50 player on the continent in the post-online metagame, ranking 37th on the [[European Ultimate Power Rankings]] for the first half of 2023. He has consistently placed highly at several events, most notably 13th at {{Trn|King Of Fields 95 3}} and 17th at {{Trn|Temple: Hermès Edition}}. He retired in 2024.

*{{Sm|ven|USA}} - The best Zelda player from 2019 to 2022. His best results were in the early metagame thanks to strong performances such as 17th at {{Trn|2GG: Prime Saga}} defeating {{Sm|ESAM}} and 33rd at {{Trn|2GG: Kongo Saga}} defeating {{Sm|Elegant}}; he was also the first Zelda player ranked on a global ranking, ranking 83rd on the [[OrionRank Ultimate: Six Months In]]. Although less consistent since, he has still seen some strong results, including 9th at {{Trn|LVL UP EXPO 2023}}, tied as the best Zelda placement at a major.

 

Players were initially divided on Zelda's competitive viability. Many players pointed out that her key issues, most notably her low mobility and poor endurance, were retained from previous games. On the other hand, other players were more optimistic towards the character due to improved frame data over her ''Smash 4'' iteration, particularly on her out-of-shield options, as well as [[Phantom Slash]]'s higher utility. This optimism, coupled with strong early performances from players such as {{Sm|Mystearica}}, {{Sm|Naskino}}, and {{Sm|ven}}, led many to believe the character was a solid mid-tier, with some arguing that she could be a potential high-tier.

 

This optimism did not last for long, as Zelda's polarizing nature became more noticeable as time went on: despite receiving buffs in updates 7.0.0 and 13.0.0 that improved her consistency, Zelda's poor mobility, disadvantage, and highly risky neutral remained critical weaknesses. As a result, Zelda players began struggling in the developing metagame, and they either dropped the character (such as Mystearica) or saw worse results and consistency than before (such as ven). Although Naskino continued to do well in Europe and {{Sm|Yn}} began making waves in Japan in early-2023, opinions on Zelda continued to decline, and as a result she sits at 75th out of 82 on the first tier list, rising two spots in the second and current one. Although it is her best placement in the series and she is far better than all her previous incarnations, she is currently placed in low-tier.

[[File:SSBU Congratulations Zelda.png|thumb|Zelda's congratulations screen.]]

Zelda's opponents are antagonists and she fights each of them on stages that hail from {{uv|The Legend of Zelda}} series.

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|1||{{CharHead|Wario|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Great Plateau Tower]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild}}''||

|2||{{CharHead|Bowser|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Skyloft]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Ballad of the Goddess (Original)}}''||

|3||{{CharHead|Mii Swordfighter|SSBU|hsize=20px}} (×5)||[[Temple]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Temple Theme}}''||Horde Battle (3 at a time)<br>The Mii Swordfighters are dressed in the Yiga Clan Mask and Yiga Clan Outfit.

|4||Giant {{CharHead|King K. Rool|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Bridge of Eldin]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Dark World (for 3DS / Wii U)}}''||A possible reference to King Bulblin.

|5||{{CharHead|Dark Samus|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Gerudo Valley]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Hidden Mountain & Forest}}''||

|6||{{CharHead|Link|SSBU|hsize=20px|color=Black}} (×4)||[[Hyrule Castle]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Great Temple / Temple}}''||

|colspan="5"|[[Bonus Stage]]

|Final||{{CharHead|Ganondorf|SSBU|hsize=20px}}, then [[Ganon]]||[[Sacred Land]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form}}'' <small>(Ganondorf)</small><br/>''{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Death Mountain}}'' <small>(Ganon)</small>|| A [[Maxim Tomato]] spawns on the stage after Ganondorf is KO'd.

During the opening cutscene, Zelda tried to rally the other fighters to fight the army of Master Hands by saying, "Stow your fear; it's now or never!" ("{{ja|ここまで来たらやるしかないでしょう!|Koko made kitara yarushikanai deshō!}}", ''Now that we've made it this far, there's no turning back!''), and was present on the cliffside when [[Galeem]] unleashed his beams of light. She and {{SSBU|Mewtwo}} attempted to reflect the beams using [[Nayru's Love]] and [[Confusion]], respectively, but this attempt failed, and both of them were vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters (excluding {{SSBU|Kirby}}).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

|•{{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} Team {{Head|Captain Falcon|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}×4<br>•{{SSBU|Zelda}} Team {{Head|Zelda|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}×4<br>•{{SSBU|Mario}} Team {{Head|Mario|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Yellow}}×4<br>•{{SSBU|Kirby}} Team {{Head|Kirby|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Green}}×4

|{{SSBU|Final Destination}} ([[Battlefield form]])

|''Takt of Magic''

|•Defeat the main fighter to win

|Charlotte (Takt of Magic)

|{{SSBUMusicLink|Dragon Quest|The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination}}

|[[Gaur Plain]] ([[Ω form]])

|•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd

|-

|•{{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}} {{Head|Mii Swordfighter|g=SSBU|s=20px}} (Moveset: [[Blurring Blade|3]][[Gale Stab|2]][[Skyward Slash Dash|2]][[Power Thrust|3]], Chrom Wig, Dunban Outfit)<br>•{{SSBU|Zelda}} {{Head|Zelda|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}

|•The enemy has increased defense after a little while<br>•The enemy is healed when the enemy's at high damage<br>•The enemy's melee blows will heal them when they hit

|''Xenoblade Chronicles'' Series

|•{{SSBU|Lucina}} {{Head|Lucina|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Black}}<br>•{{SSBU|Zelda}} {{Head|Zelda|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}<br>•{{SSBU|Cloud}} {{Head|Cloud|g=SSBU|s=20px}}

|•Defeat the main fighter to win

|1,514

|''The Legend of Zelda'' Series

|•{{SSBU|Mewtwo}} {{Head|Mewtwo|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Purple}} (100 HP)<br>•{{SSBU|Zelda}} {{Head|Zelda|g=SSBU|s=20px}} (70 HP)<br>•Giant {{SSBU|R.O.B.}} {{Head|R.O.B.|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Green}} (70 HP)<br>•{{SSBU|Robin}} {{Head|Robin|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}} (60 HP)<br>•{{SSBU|Inkling}} {{Head|Inkling|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Cyan}} (60 HP)<br>•{{SSBU|Charizard}} {{Head|Charizard|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Yellow}} (60 HP)<br>•{{SSBU|Pit}} {{Head|Pit|g=SSBU|s=20px}} (60 HP)

|•[[Stamina battle]]<br>•The enemy favors neutral specials<br>•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd

|Zelda (Tears of the Kingdom)

|''The Legend of Zelda'' Series

|[[Great Plateau Tower]] ([[Ω form]])

<ref name="DLC">This alternative occurs when the corresponding DLC has been purchased and downloaded.</ref>

SSBUWebsiteZelda1.jpg|Zelda idling on [[Temple]].

SSBUWebsiteZelda6.jpg|Idling in her dark costume on [[Spirit Train]].

===Fighter Showcase Video===

{{#widget:YouTube|id=fMDgFn3qQ_c}}

*Masahiro Sakurai chose to base Zelda's design in ''Ultimate'' off of her ''A Link to the Past'' and ''A Link Between Worlds'' incarnations instead of her more recent ''Breath of the Wild'' incarnation because that version of Zelda, according to him, "is more into research than fighting."<ref name="SpecialSmash" /><ref name="DirectJP" /><ref name="PaluGuidance" /><ref name="DirectEN" /> He also mentioned in a subsequent Nintendo Treehouse Live event that he chose this design to better represent ''The Legend of Zelda'' franchise as a whole instead of having all of its fighters come from the same game.

*Zelda's current default design was previously [[Alternate costume (SSB4)#Zelda|an alternate costume]] in terms of coloration of her model, whereas her previous default design based on ''Twilight Princess'' has now become [[Alternate costume (SSBU)#Zelda|an alternate costume]] in that same regard.

**Coincidentally, Zelda was revealed in ''SSB4'' at the same time ''A Link Between Worlds'' was released, which inspired her current design.

*Zelda can be unlocked by Kirby via his Classic Mode route, which may reference their team-up from ''Brawl''{{'}}s Adventure Mode, [[The Subspace Emissary]].

*Zelda is currently the only playable ''The Legend of Zelda'' character in ''Ultimate'' whose design originates from either a handheld game or a non-3D game.

**She is also the only ''Zelda'' character whose design comes from the [[zeldawiki:Zelda Timeline#Fallen Hero Timeline|"Fallen Hero" timeline]].

*The [[World of Light]] opening marks Zelda's first spoken line of dialogue in the ''Smash'' series. This is also the first time in the series that any ''Zelda'' character is voiced in English.

**Zelda is one of the few characters to have her cutscene dialogue dubbed in English, but otherwise keep her Japanese voice actress's battle grunts, after {{SSBM|Fox}} and {{SSBM|Falco}} in ''Melee''. She is also the only character to speak English in a cutscene while still having a Japanese KO line (with her yelling "{{ja|いやぁっ!|Iyaa!}}" (''Nooo!'')).

**Zelda speaks English in all Western language versions of ''Ultimate'', unlike ''Breath of the Wild'', which was dubbed into multiple languages.

*Gravity on Zelda's hair is temporarily disabled whenever she performs her hair-brushing idle pose.