Sheik

For fighter info, see Sheik (SSBM), Sheik (SSBB), and Sheik (SSB4).

Sheik
Concept artwork of Sheik's scrapped design from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Hyrule Warriors Legends (2016)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo 64
Species	Hylian (disguised as Sheikah)
Gender	Female (disguised as male)
Place of origin	Hyrule
Voice actor	Jun Mizusawa
Article on Zelda Wiki	Sheik

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a character from The Legend of Zelda universe, specifically a disguise of Princess Zelda. Sheik aids Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by giving him tips and teaching him warp songs.

Character description

File:Sheikartwork.jpg

Official artwork of Sheik from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which directly inspired her design in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

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

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

Gender dispute

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

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

While Sheik's gender in Ocarina of Time is still occasionally argued, Sheik is officially considered a female in the Super Smash Bros. series. Sheik's Melee, Brawl, and SSB4 trophies describe her as female, Masahiro Sakurai referred to her as female in her update on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website, and she is referred to as female within Brawl's manual. However, Zelda's trophy in Super Smash Bros. 4 referred to Sheik as "a young man". For the main series, before the Japanese release of Hyrule Warriors, Bill Trinen, Nintendo's senior product marketing manager and head translator for Ocarina of Time, stated in an interview on August 5th, 2014 that since Sheik is Zelda in disguise and Zelda is female, Sheik is therefore also female.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Sheik, as she appears in Melee.

As a playable character

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

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

Trophies

In addition to the Zelda trophies, there are three Sheik trophies available in Melee. Her main trophy reads as follows:
Sheik
This is Zelda's alter ego. Using a variation of the name of the ancient Sheikah tribe, she appears before Link and teaches him melodies instrumental to his success. It's believed that she's not just a quick-change artist, but rather that she is able to instantaneously alter her clothing and her eye and skin color by using her magical skills.

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

• 

  Sheik [Classic Mode] trophy

• 

  Sheik [Smash, Adventure Mode] trophy

• 

  Sheik [Smash, All-Star Mode] trophy

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sheik, as she appears in Brawl.

As a playable character

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

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

The debate was settled with the revelation of Sheik's inclusion in Famitsu's review of Brawl. Shortly thereafter, Smash Bros. DOJO!! confirmed Sheik's inclusion via its January 16th update. Sheik's special moves have remain unchanged, but much like Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf, she now features an updated design based on Twilight Princess' aesthetics. Unlike these three characters, however, Sheik's design was sent to Sakurai by Eiji Aonuma, the director of Twilight Princess; it was initially created for Twilight Princess, but plans to bring Sheik back were later scrapped, rendering the model obsolete until the development of Brawl.

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

Trophies

Sheik trophy in Brawl.

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

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Sticker

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
Sheik	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	AttackBodySpin+017 Attack +17	Link Zelda Toon Link Ganondorf

Sheik (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Sheik, as she appears in Super Smash Bros. 4.

As a playable character

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

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

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

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

Trophies

Trophy descriptions

Sheik

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Sheik claimed to be a surviving Sheikah. However, this was just a cunning disguise for Princess Zelda so that she could escape Ganondorf. In Smash Bros., she's the complete opposite of Zelda, striking with fast attacks that can keep an opponent off balance.

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

Sheik (Alt.)

Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters before exploding. Once the button has been released, it'll hop or explode after a time. The down special Bouncing Fish is an attack where Sheik strikes with both heels, falling similarly to the way a fish might flop around.

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

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• SheikAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

Trivia

• Sheik and Ganondorf both made their playable debuts in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and both made their playable debuts outside of the Super Smash Bros. series in Hyrule Warriors.
• Sheik is the only character in the Super Smash Bros. series to have been ranked at the very top of the tier list in two different games; she was ranked 1st on the first SSB4 tier list, and was ranked 1st on the first seven Melee tier lists.
  • She and Diddy Kong are characters in the Super Smash Bros. series to have been ranked at the very top of a tier list, and then later lose that position.