Editing Zelda (SSBU)

{{cquote|''You might recognize Zelda's look from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds game. In battle she uses magical moves to reflect and teleport, and for her Final Smash, she seals her opponents away in the Triforce of Wisdom. If an opponent has 100% damage or more, they will be instantly KO'd!''|cite=[https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/blog/ Super Smash Blog]|source=[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site]]}}

'''Zelda''' ({{ja|ゼルダ|Zeruda}}, ''Zelda'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. She was confirmed as a playable character on June 12, 2018. Zelda is classified as fighter #17.

Zelda is voiced in-game by {{s|wikipedia|Ayumi Fujimura}}, who previously voiced the character in ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds}}''. She speaks a single line in the [[Adventure Mode: World of Light]] opening, voiced by Fujimura in Japanese and dubbed in English by Brandy Kopp.

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

With the exception of the third method, Zelda must then be defeated on [[Temple]].

In addition to a visual redesign, Zelda has been significantly buffed in Ultimate. Many of her moves have reduced startup and endlag and improved KO potential. Previously the slowest jab in the game, Zelda's jab comes out quicker and can KO at higher percents. Dash attack and up throw have enhanced knockback power, allowing Zelda to more easily secure KOs.

Her special moves have seen the most improvements. Nayru's Love has one more frame of invulnerability and allows her to move in the air while during use. Din's Fire no longer puts her in [[helpless|freefall]], travels in a tighter arc, and has better use offstage due to the new airdodge nerfs. Farore's Wind is faster, preserves more momentum, and allows Zelda to drift sooner upon reappearing. The biggest change she receives is the reworking of Phantom. Phantom Slash now assembles in six stages, with the final stage being able to use for trap setups, edgeguarding, and approaching. Zelda can also summon a new Phantom quicker than before. Her new Final Smash, Triforce of Wisdom, is better at trapping opponents and will secure a KO for anyone over 100% at the end of the move.

Nevertheless, she has some noticeable nerfs. Forward tilt has more startup and endlag. Her grabs have more endlag, making them more risky to use in neutral to start combos. Farore's Wind travels a shorter distance, hindering her recovery and edgeguarding ability. Since Phantom is formed behind Zelda, and when sent forward has to make up the distance to where it would have appeared from the portal in [[Smash 4]], this makes her more vulnerable when using the move. If Zelda gets grabbed or takes any damage before the Phantom attacks, the Phantom will collapse. This makes Phantom Slash a move better used in the advantage state.

Furthermore, although now they are less significantly hindering, she still retains her previous Smash iterations' weaknesses, those being poor range, terrible sourspots, lackluster neutral, and slow movement.

Despite these nerfs and weaknesses, people consider this to be the best Zelda has ever been in a Super Smash Bros. game.

===Aesthetics===

*{{change|Zelda's appearance is based on her design from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past}}'' <ref name="SpecialSmash">{{cite web |url=https://sourcegaming.info/2018/06/20/smash-is-special-part-1-sakurais-famitsu-column-vol-557/

|title="Smash is Special – Part 1" Sakurai's Famitsu Column Vol. 557 |accessdate=2018-06-20 |author=Masahiro Sakurai (translated by Brando) |date=2018-06-20 |publisher=SourceGaming.info (original Japanese publication in ''Famitsu'') |quote= Zelda's new design is based on ''"The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past"''}}</ref><ref name="DirectJP">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjAsmfiIK3E&t=8m33s |title=Dairantou Smash Bros. SPECIAL (E3 2018) |accessdate=2018-07-08 |date=2018-06-12 |publisher=Nintendo |quote= ''Breath of the Wild'' Zelda isn't interested in combat, so her design is from ''A Link to the Past''.}}</ref><ref name="PaluGuidance">[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]] (North America) - [[Palutena's Guidance#Zelda_2|Palutena's Guidance]]: "Yes, that's Zelda from A Link to the Past. She's a descendant of the Seven Sages. When she was captured, she used telepathy to ask Link for help."</ref> and ''{{s|zeldawiki|A Link Between Worlds}}''.<ref name="DirectEN">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83o&t=8m33s |title=Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - E3 2018 |accessdate=2018-07-08 |date=2018-06-12 |publisher=Nintendo |quote= In ''The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'', Zelda's more into research than fighting, so her design is from ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds''}}</ref>.}}

*{{change|Zelda's standing pose, [[idle poses]], [[walking]] animation, up [[taunt]], and down taunt have been changed.}}

**For the first, she conjures a small flame out of her finger and swirls it around playfully.

**For the second, she summons the [[Phantom]] armor and proudly poses in front of it.

**For the third, she emits magic out of two fingers and points at the screen.

===Attributes===

*{{buff|Zelda [[jump]]s higher.}}

*{{nerf|Forward [[roll]] has less intangibility (4-17→4-15).}}

*{{nerf|Back roll has less intangibility (4-17→5-16) and more endlag (31→36).}}

*{{nerf|As with all fighters, Zelda's directionless [[airdodge]] has significantly more endlag (34-57), and she can now only air dodge once before needing to touch the ground, grab the ledge, or receive [[hitstun]] from a move.}}

*{{change|With the addition of directional airdodges, Zelda has has intangibility on frames 3-21, her FAF is 130, and it has more landing lag than her directionless air dodge (FAF 20).}}

*{{change|Zelda's full hop has less air time. This makes her faster for movement purposes but means she has less time to hit opponents with aerials (frames of air time 62 → 57)}}

**{{buff|Neutral attack's final hit deals much more knockback.}}

*[[Forward tilt]]:

*[[Up tilt]]:

*[[Down tilt]]:

**{{nerf|Down tilt sends at a worse angle for comboing (80 degrees → 60 degrees).}}

*[[Up smash]]:

**{{nerf|Up smash no longer pulls opponents standing on either side of her into the looping hitboxes as easily. This is consistent with similar attacks, such as Mewtwo's Up smash.}}

*{{buff|All aerials have less landing lag (19 → 16 (neutral aerial), 23 → 14 (forward aerial), 25 → 17 (back aerial), 19 → 13 (up aerial), 18 → 13 (down aerial).}}

*{{nerf|Neutral air now can launch opponents that touch the outer edges the first hitbox in its upper part, meaning opponents will not be pulled into the subsequent hits, making combos slightly more difficult.}}

*{{nerf|Neutral air's hits deals less damage (Front hits 1-4 2.5→2.1% Back hits 1-4 1.5→1.2% last hit 5→4.2%).}}

*{{buff|[[Forward air]] is faster (frame 9 → 6), now being as fast as [[back aerial]].}}

**{{buff|Both lighting kicks deals more knockback}}

**{{buff|Both lighting kicks now have less endlag (FAF 53 → 50).}}

*{{change|[[Lightning Kick]]s and [[down air]] have unique sound effects, even if the sweetspot misses.}}

===[[Grab]]s and [[Throw]]s===

**{{change|Zelda grabs and pummels opponents with one hand instead of two.}}

*{{change|Forward throw, back throw, and up throw have altered animations, and Zelda's hands emit brighter trails of magic.}}

*{{nerf|[[Dash grab]] has slightly more startup and endlag (first frame of grab hitbox 11 → 13) (FAF 47 → 48). This means it is still one of the slowest non-tether dash grabs.}}

*{{nerf|[[Pivot grab]] has more startup (first frame of grab hitbox 11 → 14).}}

*{{buff|Pivot grab has less endlag (FAF 45 → 43).}}

**{{nerf|Forward throw deals less damage (12% → 10%), and much less knockback growth, diminishing its KO potential despite receiving a base knockback increase.}}

**{{buff|Up throw has much more knockback growth, now having the ability to combo to low at mid percents and KO at high percents.}}

**{{buff|Back throw deals more damage (11% → 12%) and significantly more knockback, improving its KO potential.}}

**{{buff|Down throw's looping hits deal more damage (1% → 1.5%) bringing the total damage from 6% to 8%}}

**{{nerf|Down throw deals more knockback, weakening its combo potential at very high percents.}}

**{{change|Down throw can no longer connect with up aerial at low-mid percents, but can lead to a sweetspot back air.}}

**{{buff|Nayru's Love no longer halts vertical momentum, allowing Zelda to move in the air while using the move. As well, during the move, horizontal momentum is slightly controllable}}

**{{buff|Nayru's Love hitbox appears earlier (13→11).}}

*[[Din's Fire]]:

**{{buff|Din's Fire no longer leaves Zelda [[helpless]] in the air.}}

**{{buff|Din's Fire can travel slightly farther and its trajectory can be more controlled.}}

**{{buff|The changes to [[airdodge]] mechanics indirectly improve Din's Fire's edgeguarding utility. Since airdodges are riskier to use offstage, recovering opponents are left in a more vulnerable position if they try to avoid Din's Fire.}}

**{{buff|Din's Fire sweetspot deals more knockback, and appears to be larger than it was previously.}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind has less startup and endlag. (Active frame 8 → 6).}}

**{{buff|Farore's Wind travels faster after disappearing and preserves more momentum when used right after a jump.}}

**{{buff|Zelda can drift in the air much sooner after reappearing.}}

**{{buff|Farore Wind's first hitbox is slightly bigger and the second hitbox is much bigger, especially in the air.}}

**{{buff|Farore Wind has less endlag (81→77).}}

**{{change|Farore's Wind now shows small green orbs that move in the direction Zelda is moving while before reappearing.}}

**{{change|Farore's Wind produces a more intense green/yellow vortex at the start and end of the move.}}

**{{change|Phantom Slash has been heavily reworked. The Phantom armor now assembles itself behind Zelda rather than appearing fully formed out of a portal in front of her. It is now a single-press chargeable move; Pressing B again will cause the incomplete armor to attack at its current charge level. The move has six charge levels, each resulting in a different attack:}}

**{{buff|Phantom Slash's fully charged attack is now momentarily delayed, allowing Zelda to move around before the Phantom rushes forward. Zelda can set it as a trap and attack the opponent in tandem with the Phantom, or she can retreat behind it for protection. This also discourages the opponent from reflecting the Phantom since she now has enough time to respond with Nayru's Love.}}

**{{buff|There is no longer a cooldown if the Phantom is destroyed. Once the armor disappears, the move can be used again.}}

**{{Buff|Fully charged Phantom deals more knockback.}}

**{{nerf|Phantom Slash's fully charged attack deals less damage since it no longer hits twice.}}

**{{nerf|The Phantom charges behind Zelda now, leaving her more vulnerable since it has to travel a short distance before it can hit in front of her.}}

**{{change|Zelda has a new [[Final Smash]] called Triforce of Wisdom. She magically opens a glowing, triangular portal that sucks in the opponent and immobilizes them while dealing damage. If the opponent is at or above 100% damage before the portal closes, they are "sealed away" and [[instant KO|instantly KO'd]]; otherwise, they receive mediocre knockback.}}

All of Zelda's battles are on ''The Legend of Zelda'' themed stages, and her opponents are all villains.

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

|1||{{SSBU|Wario}}||[[Great Plateau Tower]]||Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild||

|2||{{SSBU|Bowser}}||[[Skyloft]]||Ballad of the Goddess||

|3||5 {{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}}s||[[Temple]]||Temple Theme||Mii Swordfighters are dressed in Yiga Clan costumes.

|4||{{SSBU|King K. Rool}}||[[Bridge of Eldin]]||Dark World (for 3DS / Wii U)||CPU is Giant

|5||{{SSBU|Dark Samus}}||[[Gerudo Valley]]||Hidden Mountain & Forest||

|6||4 Dark {{SSBU|Link}}s||[[Hyrule Castle]]||Great Temple / Temple||

|colspan="5"|Bonus Stage

|Final||{{SSBU|Ganondorf}}/[[Ganon]]||?||Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form <small>(Ganondorf)</small><br/>Death Mountain <small>(Ganon)</small>||Ganondorf transforms into Ganon upon defeat.

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!", and was present 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}}).

Zelda was one of the many fighters that fell under [[Dharkon]]'s control upon Galeem's first defeat. She is unlocked in the Sacred Realm of the World of Dark on the bottom left corner of the land which makes up the Triforce of Wisdom. The player must defeat the Spirit of Impa (which is revealed by solving a clock-based puzzle) to clear a boulder that's blocking the path to her unlock battle and then the Spirit of Uxie, Mesprit & Azelf. Unlocking her reveals the Triforce of Wisdom in the center of the map. If {{SSBU|Young Link}} is unlocked, the boulders leading to {{SSBU|Cloud}}'s unlock battle and the Master Sword clear out.

Zelda's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing [[Classic Mode]]. Unlocking Zelda in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in ''Ultimate''.

Additionally, Zelda makes an appearance in various Primary and Support Spirits.

Zelda Spirit.png|173. Zelda [Classic Mode] Spirit

Young Zelda.png|189. Young Zelda Spirit

Zelda oot Spirit.png|190. Zelda (Ocarina of Time) Spirit

Botwzelda.png|238. Zelda (Breath of the Wild) Spirit

Zelda Wind Waker Spirit.png|247. Zelda (The Wind Waker) Spirit

Zelda Spirit Tracks Spirit.png|259. Zelda (Spirit Tracks) Spirit

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

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

=== Character Showcase Video ===

*Masahiro Sakurai chose to base Zelda's design in ''Ultimate'' off of her ''A Link to the Past'' and ''A Link Between Worlds'' incarnation instead of her more recent ''Breath of the Wild'' incarnation because that version of Zelda, according to him, "is more into research than fighting."

*Zelda's current default design was previously an alternate costume, while her previous default design based on ''Twilight Princess'' has now become an alternate costume.

**Coincidentally, Zelda was revealed in ''Smash 4'' at the same time ''A Link Between Worlds'' was released, which inspired her current design.

*Zelda is currently the only playable ''Legend of Zelda'' character in ''Smash'' whose design originates from a handheld game rather than a home console game.

*The [[World of Light]] trailer marks the first time Zelda has spoken with dialogue in the ''Smash'' series.

**This is also the first time Zelda has ever spoken with an American accent. In ''Breath of the Wild'', she spoke with a British accent.

**Zelda speaks English in all Western language versions of ''Ultimate'', unlike her ''Breath of the Wild'' incarnation who was dubbed into multiple languages. She is also the first character since [[Fox]] and [[Falco]] in ''Melee'' to have her cutscene dialogue dubbed in English, but to keep her Japanese voice actress' battle grunts in Western versions.