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}}.

 

Zelda is ranked 73rd out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing her in the D- tier. This is a slight improvement from her 52nd/53rd out of 54 placement in ''SSB4'' where she was tied with {{SSB4|Ganondorf}}, and is her best placement in the series. She has a strong zoning tool in [[Phantom Slash]], which is a very versatile move that can also start or finish combos, force approaches and apply pressure by controlling space, namely in ledge trapping. Zelda uses magic in her attacks, giving her solid disjointed range in general. She has an abundance of KO options, with power comparable to or exceeding that of heavyweights, despite being a lightweight; furthermore, she possesses the largest array of moves with [[transcendent priority]], so her strongest attacks tend to create favorable trades if not outright beating out the opponent due to their priority. Several of them come out surprisingly fast for how powerful they are, and are effective out-of-shield options, most notoriously her [[Lightning Kick]] and [[Farore's Wind]], the latter of which is also one of the best recovery moves in the game. She also has an outstanding array of throws, being able to combo with down throw until high percents and having two strong kill throws in her up and back throws.

 

 

 

Complete one of the following:

*Have Zelda join the player's party in [[World of Light]].

 

 

Zelda's ground game is notably safer than her aerial game due to generally being less committal and more consistent. She has decent close-quarters combat, namely in her [[down tilt]], a short-ranged low-profiling poke, and [[up tilt]], a large all-around anti-air; both are quick to execute combo-starters with long-lasting hitboxes. They often work in tandem with [[dash attack]], which is her most important burst and punish option with excellent speed and large hitboxes. More situational is her [[neutral attack]], which is her fastest move at frame 4; it can transition into a [[rapid jab]] for simple damage, or sometimes combo at high percents on its own, but is short-ranged, inconsistent at comboing and unsafe on shield. [[Forward tilt]] is the biggest outlier, being much slower with narrow hitboxes, but having a strong low-priority tipper; it can be used to space (especially on shield) at a longer range.

 

Though known for her broad power, Zelda's smash attacks are one of the few areas where she falls relatively average to below-average in strength, although they are all still respectable finishers. Her [[forward smash]] has a good horizontal disjoint with multiple hits; it is a decent option for catching ledge getups, and due to its rather low ending lag it can be hard to punish on shield, especially if spaced and/or charged. [[Up smash]] is similarly a powerful multi-hit; though laggier and having poor horizontal range, it has a fast startup (frame 9) that can punish poorly spaced moves on shield, and has a very long duration of 23 active frames, making it effective for catching getups and landings. [[Down smash]] is a simple leg sweep with average power, being one of her few non-magic attacks, but compensates by being very fast at frame 5 and executing relatively quickly; hitting on both sides, the foot sweetspots [[semi spike]] at a nasty launch angle that can set up edgeguards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|3.0.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/3.0.0|char=Zelda}}

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|4.0.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/4.0.0|char=Zelda}}

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|7.0.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/7.0.0|char=Zelda}}

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|9.0.2}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/9.0.2|char=Zelda}}

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|10.1.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/10.1.0|char=Zelda}}

 

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|11.0.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/11.0.0|char=Zelda}}

 

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|13.0.0}}'''

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/13.0.0|char=Zelda}}

 

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

 

{{MovesetTable

|game=SSBU

|neutralname=Short Flash ({{ja|ショートフラッシュ|Shōto Furasshu}}) / Rapid Flash ({{ja|ラピッドフラッシュ|Rapiddo Furasshu}}) / Flash Finish ({{ja|フラッシュフィニッシュ|Furasshu Finisshu}})

|neutral1dmg=2.5% (hits 1-2)

|neutralinfdmg= 0.4% (loop), 3% (end)

|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.

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

|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.

|utiltdmg=7.2%

|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.

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

|dtiltdmg=5.5%

|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}})

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[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"

!Round!!Opponent!!Stage!!Music!!Notes

|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}}).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

! style="width:5%;"|No.

|''The Legend of Zelda'' Series

|[[Great Plateau Tower]] ([[Ω form]])

|•You lose if your CPU ally is KO'd<br>•You'll occasionally take sudden damage after a little while<br>•The enemy is giant

|{{SSBUMusicLink|The Legend of Zelda|Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form}}

|Zelda (Breath of the Wild)

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

{|style="margin:1em auto 1em auto;text-align:center"

|colspan=8|[[File:Zelda Palette (SSBU).png|link=Palette swap (SSBU)#Zelda|1000px]]

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.

**Ironically, despite her ''Twilight Princess'' incarnation being retired after this game, even though Ganondorf's design from that game is still directly referenced via a spirit, as well as Link's Wolf form from that game, Zelda is the only returning ''Zelda'' character from ''SSB4'' that doesn't have her ''Twilight Princess'' design directly referenced in ''Ultimate'' at all.

*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]].

**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.

**She is the second ''Zelda'' character to speak in ''Smash'', the first being {{SSBM|Sheik}} in ''Melee''.

*''Ultimate'' marks the first time Zelda's Kirby hat no longer resembles Young Zelda's wimple from ''Ocarina of Time'', despite her appearance in ''Melee'' being based on her adult design from the same game, and her ''Brawl'' and ''SSB4'' designs both being based on her appearance in ''Twilight Princess'', which also makes it the first time said Kirby hat is based directly on how she appears in-game.

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

[[Category:Spirits]]

[[es:Zelda (SSBU)]]