Sheik (SSBU)

Sheik in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Sheikah Dance
Tier	B+ (31)

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018 alongside Zelda and the rest of the returning roster. Sheik is classified as Fighter #16.

As with Zelda, this is the first time in the series to not have Sheik voiced by Jun Mizusawa since Super Smash Bros. Melee; as a result of Zelda's The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-based recast, Ayumi Fujimura now also voices Sheik, continuing the trend from the former voicing both characters in the previous games.

Sheik is currently ranked 31st out of 82 characters placing her at the top of the B+ tier. This is a large drop from her top tier placement in Super Smash Bros. 4, where she was ranked 4th out of 54. Sheik's main strength is her unrivaled frame data, with most of her attacks coming out at no later than frame 4 or 5. They also have very little end lag, enabling maximum reliability for most of her moves and combos to connect and safety on shield. This frame data also grants her arguably the best neutral game, a strong edgeguarding game, highly effective special attacks, and one of the best advantage states of any character. Complementing her neutral game is one of the best neutral specials in the game in Needle Storm, which is useful not only for zoning, camping, or connecting combos, but also confirms into offstage KOs with Bouncing Fish. Furthermore, she boasts a powerful and flexible recovery, with Vanish and Bouncing Fish giving her extensive range and distance that can reliably bring her back to the stage, as well as being fast and reliable KO options.

However, Sheik has significant weaknesses, the most prominent being her poor endurance. She is the sixth lightest character in the game, and her high falling speed and gravity makes her prone to easy combos and early KOs. Her grab game is also below-average; while down throw is a reliable combo starter at low percents, its utility drops off quickly, with its KO confirms requiring Sheik to read the opponent's DI or else only working at very specific percentages. Furthermore, Sheik's otherwise amazing neutral and combo game is sometimes offset by the very low damage output from her attacks, so she must win neutral multiple times to be able to inflict the same amount of damage that many other fighters can rack up from a single interaction or combo. Finally, Sheik's KO ability is generally subpar; while the handful of KO options she does possess have quick frame data and are mostly safe on shield, they are burdened with either awkward hitboxes or the requirement of a platform extension or prior combo string. For example, down smash works as an out of shield option but is sometimes inconsistent and only KOs at much higher percents, while up smash is afflicted by a large sourspot, and it often requires a combo and/or platform extension to KO reliably. Another KO option, Bouncing Fish, has high end lag, so it is somewhat unreliable in neutral for a KO and often requires either a combo string, or an offstage kill setup. Finally, rage alleviates her subpar KO abilities to a considerable degree; however, she struggles to survive long enough to benefit from it, especially against heavyweights, who can possibly live up to very high percents and KO her with rage of their own.

Overall, Sheik is a character with powerful unique abilities and attributes. She has a somewhat high learning curve, so her combo and KO abilities depend on the player putting in consistent time and effort to perform effectively. The general consensus on her was mostly poor in the early metagame, with players particularly highlighting the excessive nerfs she received transitioning into Ultimate. However, significant buffs from patch updates have since put the character's perception in a better shape, especially during the post-pandemic metagame. The consensus right now is that she is a high effort-high reward character that is only viable after one has significantly mastered her capabilities. Sheik remains a viable character in the current metagame, proven by players such as WebbJP, Eim, Mr.R, and VoiD.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Sheik being the 47th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Donkey Kong or any character in his unlock tree, being the 5th character unlocked after King Dedede.
• Have Sheik join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Sheik must then be defeated on Gerudo Valley. In World of Light, she is fought on Final Destination.

Attributes

Sheik is a character that, like a ninja of sorts, fits the "hit-and-run" character archetype. One of Sheik's greatest strengths is her overall mobility, being among the best in the game both grounded and aerial. She also has the 4th highest gravity, which makes her mobility better, but leaves her more vulnerable to horizontal knockback. Her crouch is also very low, making her difficult to hit when doing so. Sheik can also wall cling and crawl. However, she is the 6th-lightest character in the game, which when coupled with her gravity and tall height, these traits collectively make her very susceptible to combos and KO's, thus giving her very frail survivability overall.

Aside from her excellent mobility, another one of Sheik's greatest strengths is her extremely quick frame data. Easily one of if not the fastest in the game. With all of her moves with the exception of her down aerial and smash attacks coming out under 6 frames and all having very minimal ending lag, making her extremely difficult to punish properly; this is supplemented by the good range of her moveset. She also has an excellent projectile in Needle Storm, with the needles charging and traveling fast, being long-ranged (covers about half of Final Destination), possessing transcendent priority, causing hitstun, and having overall low cool down (especially when used in the air or on landing). These traits collectively give Sheik a strong camping ability and as well as allowing for versatile follow-ups off of her needles.

Overall, the combination of Sheik's mobility, projectiles, range and frame data form her greatest strength: her outstanding neutral game. She can play both defensively, by pressuring and zoning from afar without much trouble, or aggressively, with her fast attack speed giving her an unpredictable approach. Sheik can poke and pressure her opponents with her aerials and tilts, all of which are safe options. If they choose to drop their shield, they are wide open to these attacks. At the same time, holding shield presents her with an opportunity to grab and use her throw set-ups.

Sheik's excellent frame data, combined with the low power of many of her moves, give her among the best combo abilities in the game. Her throws can easily lead to other attacks, with her forward and down throws being particularly effective at starting combos, as they can set up long chains of forward aerials, with her up aerial and Bouncing Fish being useful combo finishers. Her combos are not limited to her air game; all of her tilts can start and extend combos since they send opponents into the air, and can confirm into aerials; her forward tilt particularly has reliable follow-ups all the way into KO percents. Down tilt, while not chaining into itself as effectively, has even lower power, giving her access to KO confirms as well.

All aspects of Sheik's moveset are solid overall. The majority of her aerial moves possess great versatility; forward aerial, in particular, has a fast startup, decent ending lag, auto-cancels in a short hop fast fall, and has slightly disjointed range, making it an all-purpose move: it can be used to approach, pressure, combo and set up edge-guards. Up aerial similarly possesses great utility: its looping hits can be used to drag down opponents to extend combos or lead into KOs depending on positioning, much like Joker's own up aerial. Additionally, it is her strongest aerial, and also launches opponents at a great angle for juggling, both of which give it good utility at both KOing and finishing combos. Her back aerial is also versatile to an extent, as it can be used to extend or finish combos as well. When sweet spotted (at the foot), it can KO at high percents near the ledge and is even safer on shield than her forward aerial. Lastly, neutral aerial is her fastest aerial, allowing her to break out of combos and extend or finish hers, notably into Bouncing Fish.

Outside of Needle Storm, Sheik's special moveset also possesses good utility. Her up special, Vanish, grants her intangibility and invisibility, which collectively make it difficult for the opponent to predict where she will reappear. It also has a hitbox on disappearance that is moderately strong, and another one and a windbox when she reappears, making it difficult to punish. Meanwhile, Sheik's down special Bouncing Fish, is famous for being her primary KO move, being similar to Flip Jump on some regards: it deals respectable damage with high knockback scaling, can finish combos from her neutral aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, and aerial Needle Storm, and is safe on shield when retreating. Sheik can perform consecutive stronger kicks after the first, although this sees almost no use in normal gameplay.

Both Vanish and Bouncing Fish also conform Sheik's last strength in her recovery, as they make it versatile and extendable, both of them can be used in tandem with each other, and they are difficult and risky to intercept, as they both deal high knockback enough to interrupt an edge-guard. Combined with her wall jump, this makes Sheik hard to edge-guard or gimp, without disabling her double jump, and enables her to reverse edge-guard effectively.

However, despite having immense strengths, Sheik has polarizing flaws. The most notable of them is her frailty: despite the fact that her recovery is amazing, in a similar vein to Fox, her on-stage endurance is very weak due to her very lightweight (being lighter than characters such as Kirby), succumbing to even decently strong blows, whereas her above average height, high falling speed and gravity make her easy to combo. This is further compounded by her notoriously poor damage output overall: despite her strong damage racking ability, she requires extremely long strings of attacks just to do the same amount of damage that the vast majority of the cast can inflict in noticeably far fewer hits, making her arguably the weakest fighter in the game in terms of general damage and knockback in her moveset.

While the low damage and power on her moves grant her an extensive combo game, Sheik also struggles to securely score KOs due to her handful of KO options and each of them being difficult to land precisely. Her up smash has a powerful first hit on her arms as she raises them, but it is difficult to land outside of a read or confirm, is hampered by its much weaker second hit as she lowers her arms and is very punishable if missed, her forward and down smash are among the weakest smash attacks of their kind, and they have punishable ending lag as well, while Vanish's disappearing hitbox is hard to land. In the air, she is limited to using her up aerial, back aerial, or Bouncing Fish to KO, and even then, the former two require to be used close to the blast lines due to their relatively weak knockback, whereas the latter is susceptible to DI and is predictable without a setup on top of KOing considerably later center-stage compared to the edge, making her often reliant on dragging her opponent close to the blast zone in order to secure a KO.

Furthermore, Sheik's aerial KO setups are difficult to pull off due to Ultimate's faster pace and launch physics, re-addition of directional air dodges, and the weakening of her neutral and back aerials' respective combo potentials. Her other aerials are otherwise only useful for edge-guarding and gimping characters with particularly weak or linear recoveries due to their abysmal KO power or sacrificial use. Sheik's grab game is also below-average overall: she lacks throws that can KO at realistic percents, and while her aforementioned forward and down throws are useful combo starters, they have too much knockback for truly reliable KO set-ups.

With all of these weaknesses working against her, it is not uncommon for Sheik's opponents to survive in excess of 150%. When combined with her frailty, she is notoriously vulnerable to comebacks, even against fighters with generally mediocre KO potentials. Lastly, the rage mechanic hinders Sheik: without rage, she often has trouble KO'ing, though as her rage increases, her combo game slowly dwindles, which when combined with her poor damage output, can make bringing an opponent to KO percents difficult. Additionally, this brings opponents to a high level of rage enough to KO Sheik herself.

Other weaknesses include a few moves that have very low utility, despite Sheik's moveset versatility. These include her down aerial, which is her overall slowest aerial, has the highest landing lag and is a stall-then-fall, giving it the lowest utility of Sheik's aerial moveset despite it meteor smashing an opponent. Her dash attack, although very quick, is unsafe on shield due to its inability to cross-up and does not KO at realistic percents. Her up throw similarly does not KO at realistic percents and is her least useful throw, as it lacks the utility her other throws have. Sheik's smash attacks are unsafe and difficult to land overall, although they are fast enough to work as combo finishers. Lastly, Burst Grenade is powerful but has a slow explosion, which limits it to situational usage on edge-guarding predictable recoveries, extending the damage of a hard punish, or a situational mix-up to deter edge-guarders.

Altogether, Sheik's strengths slightly outweigh her weaknesses. While she has an outstanding neutral game owing to her excellent frame data and mobility, she often has to play a very long game due to her slow damage output. At that point, Sheik has to play an entirely different playstyle and try to look for openings to land her KO confirms. Nevertheless, Sheik's strengths and the myriad of buffs she received from game updates have resulted in many top players having an overall positive view on her viability, especially compared to the early meta when she was commonly considered a low-tier character.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Sheik was considered one of the most potent characters in SSB4 (and the best character in the middle of the game's lifetime), due to her nearly uncontested neutral game; despite receiving the most nerfs from game updates that did affect her effectiveness, she remained a top tier character. Possibly as a result, while Sheik has received a large mix of buffs and nerfs, the latter is more prevalent since they have worsened her strengths while amplifying her weaknesses from the previous game. Thus, Sheik has been greatly nerfed overall in her transition to Ultimate.

Sheik's most notable nerfs are to her already weak damage output and her poor survivability. Her main combo moves like her tilts and neutral and forward aerials (most notably the latter), in addition to Needle Storm and Bouncing Fish, all deal less damage. This gives Sheik a notoriously harder time racking up damage, requiring her to string much more hits just to deal any noticeable damage; this is exacerbated by her lack of KO ability. Although the weakening of rage has slightly improved her endurance and, most importantly, her combo consistency, this is counterbalanced by her lower weight, now being even lighter than small characters such as Kirby and Pikachu while also worsening her already lackluster KO potential. As a result, Sheik is unable to take significant advantage of rage, much like in SSB4.

The universal changes to the game's engine have both benefitted and hindered Sheik, but have hurt her overall. The game's faster launch physics, changes to jostling mechanics (which prevent cross-ups and instead pushes characters away), and the reintroduction of directional air dodges worsen many of Sheik's combo strings and KO set-ups. Furthermore, the prevalence of the newly introduced 0.85x short hop multiplier on aerial attacks means Sheik doesn't benefit as much from the new 1v1 multiplier as the rest of the cast, due to her semi-reliance on aerials done out of a short hop; combined with the lower damage on her combo moves, this further exacerbates her worsened damage racking ability. While Sheik does benefit from the universally faster jumpsquats, mobility and lower landing lag like the rest of the cast, she already had highly impressive mobility and the overall fastest frame data in SSB4, which causes the rest of the cast to benefit more than her from their buffs in those aspects, allowing them to keep up with her.

However, Sheik has received some useful buffs besides the universal changes. Her running speed has increased even further, now being the 4th fastest among the cast. Her neutral infinite connects more reliably and has less ending lag, making it more consistent for damage racking despite its individual hits dealing less damage. Her up tilt, down tilt and Needle Storm (especially the aerial version) also have less ending lag, improving their combo potential.

Sheik's generally least useful moves in SSB4, such as her dash attack, down smash, down aerial and up throw, each deal more damage and/or knockback. Her smash attacks as a whole have also been buffed, with forward smash and down smash's hits connecting more reliably, and up smash's first hit having more power and slightly more range. Burst Grenade has less ending lag and no longer causes helplessness, while Vanish grants more intangibility when used on the ground. Sheik has a new pummel that has gone from one of the slowest to one of the fastest, allowing it to be used more safely and rack up more damage. Finally, and most notably, her back aerial now deals more damage and knockback, improving its previously lacking KO potential when sweetspotted (though it still remains relatively weak).

In the end, Sheik's nerfs noticeably outweigh her buffs, as the former have both worsened her key strengths and exacerbated her main flaws, while the latter was not significant enough to compensate despite giving her more consistent options. Game updates have been generally kind to Sheik, giving her some miscellaneous buffs and fixing a few inconsistencies with her moveset; general optimizations to her playstyle have also proven benefitial. Nevertheless, Sheik performs worse than her SSB4 iteration, and is one of the most nerfed characters in the transition to Ultimate.

Aesthetics

• Sheik's design is based on the Sheikah Set from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, including the long white scarf of the Stealth Mask. Her armor and hair feature subtle detailing, with the latter's shadow being more pronounced to further obscure her face, and her pupils are smaller. She also no longer carries her dagger around. Lastly, the aesthetic used in Ultimate has resulted in Sheik's overall color scheme being more vibrant.
• The Stealth Tights appear to have heels, and the Stealth Mask scarf is shorter. These changes are unique to Ultimate.
• Sheik is more vocal. She vocalizes when using Vanish and Bouncing Fish.
• Up taunt has been shortened, where it no longer has Sheik do a flip to rebound.
• Palutena's Guidance conversation for Sheik has been changed.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Sheik's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Sheik's initial dash speed (1.7 → 2.178) and run speed (2.016 → 2.42) are faster, having the fourth fastest run speed in the game.
• Sheik's air speed is slightly faster (1.1 → 1.155).
• Sheik's weight has been decreased (81 → 78), being lighter than Kirby and making her the 6th lightest character in the game. This further worsens her already poor endurance.
• Sheik's traction is higher (0.06 → 0.106).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 27).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-15 → 4-12).
• Back roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-15 → 4-14) and has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 33).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 25 → 24).
• Spot dodge has more startup and grants less intangibility (frames 2-15 → 3-14).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-25 → 2-26).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 31 → 45).
• The removal of perfect pivoting hinders her ground mobility, worsens Needle Storm's mindgame potential, and worsens her ability to extend combos.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits have altered angles (70° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 361° (hit 2)) and knockback (10 base/100 scaling → 35/30/20 base/30/30/15 scaling (hit 1), 20 base/40 scaling → 35/25 base/25/20 scaling (hit 2)) to keep opponents close to Sheik, akin to other neutral attacks.
    • This allows them to connect better and lock.
    • However, this worsens Sheik's guaranteed jab cancel setups, which played a large part in the utility of her neutral attack in Smash 4 (though they're still the only neutral attack able to jab cancel, if done on aerial characters).
  • The neutral infinite has faster startup (frame 9 → 5), a consistent angle (50°/60°/70° → 361°), lower hitlag (1× → 0.5×) and SDI (1× → 0.4×) multipliers, and deals less knockback (14 base/20 scaling → 12/15) while gaining a hitstun modifier of 2 on each hit. This vastly improves its linking capabilities, making it much more reliable overall.
  • The neutral infinite's finisher has significantly less ending lag (FAF 53 → 36), no longer being the slowest in the game and being much less punishable if shielded.
  • The finisher uses 3 small hitboxes instead of one extended hitbox. Overall, it does not reach as far horizontally as before, and its range is narrower vertically.
  • All hits except the first deal less damage (3% → 1.6% (hit 2), 0.8%/0.6% → 0.3% (infinite), 3% → 2% (finisher)), with knockback scaling not fully compensated on the finisher (115 → 132), slightly reducing its already lacking KO potential.
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 9×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Sheik more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
• Forward tilt:
  • The move deals less damage (4% → 3%). It's knockback scaling was also adjusted (158/165 → 180/188), dealing slightly more knockback at low to mid percents, weakening its combo potential.
• Up tilt:
  • The second hit has less startup lag (frame 19 → 16), allowing it to connect better from the first hit, with total duration adjusted to compensate (FAF 36 → 33).
  • Both hits deal less damage (5% hit 1/6% hit 2 → 3%/4%).
    • Also, the second hit's knockback was adjusted (20 base/125 scaling → 25/147), dealing more knockback at low to mid percents, weakening its combo potential.
  • Due to the changes to jostle mechanics, the first hit is harder to connect against grounded opponents.
  • The move has a slightly altered animation: Sheik's heel hits the ground after the second hit, bearing a closer resemblance Samus's up tilt. This slightly increases its range in front of Sheik, and allows it to hit opponents grabbing the ledge.
• Down tilt:
  • The move has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 27), improving its safety and combo potential.
  • It deals less damage (5% → 4.5%).
    • Its knockback was not compensated, allowing it to combo for longer.
  • The middle hitbox is smaller (3.5u → 3.2u), and has been moved inwards (X offset: 4 → 3). This makes it easier to land the outermost hitbox, but makes it harder to hit opponents below the ledge and slightly reduces the attack's range.
• Dash attack:
  • The move has less ending lag (FAF 41 → 35).
  • It deals slightly more damage (6.5% → 7% (clean), 4.5% → 5% (late)) with no compensation on knockback, slightly improving its KO potential.
  • It has increased shieldstun (1x → 1.5x), improving its safety against shields, although it is still more unsafe than most dash attacks in Ultimate.
• Forward smash:
  • The second hit has faster startup (frame 26 → 20), allowing it to connect better from the first hit. The move's total duration has been reduced as well (FAF 51 → 45).
• Up smash:
  • The first hit deals more knockback (50 base/86 scaling → 52/88).
  • The first hit has a marginally larger hitbox (6u → 6.1u).
• Down smash:
  • The move has less startup (frame 11/18 → 8/15) and ending lag (FAF 55 → 48).
  • The first hit deals more damage (3% → 4%).
  • The first hit has received an additional hitbox that launches opponents more inward (140° → 200°), allowing it to connect much better into the second hit.
  • The second hit launches at a lower angle (48° → 43°), and has more knockback scaling (155 → 165), improving its KO potential and letting it set up edgeguards better.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral), 10 → 5 (forward), 12 → 7 (back), 21 → 13 (up), 30 → 22 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • The move deals less damage (8%/7% → 6%/5% (clean), 5%/4% → 4%/3% (late)), with only base knockback compensated (20 → 30). This hinders its limited KO and gimping potential, while not improving its combo potential.
• Forward aerial:
  • Sheik can grab ledges after using forward aerial much sooner (frame 88 → 59).
  • It deals less damage (4.3%/5% → 3.8%/4.5%).
  • It deals less knockback (40 base/132 scaling → 44/43 base/127 scaling). Coupled with its lower damage, this improves its combo potential but also hinders its limited KO and gimping potential.
  • It has more range after the first 2 active frames (Y offset: 0 → -0.5/-1, Z offset: 0 → 1/1.5). This allows it to hit opponents below her slightly more easily.
• Back aerial:
  • The move deals more damage (7%/8% → 7.5%/9.5% (clean), 5% → 6% (late)), with knockback not properly compensated on the clean hit (30 base/100 scaling → 32/30 base/98 scaling), improving its KO potential especially if sweetspotted.
• Up aerial:
  • The move auto-cancels earlier (frame 47 → 44).
  • The looping hits launch grounded opponents at a slightly different angle (90˚ → 80˚).
  • The looping hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1.3× → 0.7×), making them harder to SDI out of.
  • However, the changes to hitlag and the introduction of the DI angle indicator make it much easier to react with appropriate DI when the final hit connects, hindering its cross-up potential.
• Down aerial:
  • The move deals more damage (8% → 10%), with no compensation on the clean hit's knockback, increasing the meteor smash's power.
  • The late hit launches at a lower angle (70° → 56°), and has altered knockback (30 base/105 scaling → 55/78). Overall, it does more knockback, but launches at a worse angle for KOing.
  • The landing hit launches at a higher angle (40° → 48°), and has altered knockback (40 base/150 scaling → 77/50). This makes it safer on hit at any percentage, but removes its previously limited KO power.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have noticeably more ending lag (FAF 28 → 37 (standing), 35 → 45 (dash), 33 → 40 (pivot)).
  • Standing grab has more range (Z2 offset: 8.9 → 9.4).
  • Dash and pivot grabs have less range (Z2 offset: 10.7 → 9.5 (dash), -14.9 → -13.4 (pivot)).
  • Dash and pivot grab have more startup lag (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 11 (pivot)).
• Pummel:
  • Sheik has a new pummel, a knee strike rather than an elbow jab.
  • It deals much less damage (3.1% → 1%). Additionally, the first pummel she uses can miss many fighters, due to the way the early stages of grabs work.
  • However, has significantly faster startup (frame 9 → 1), deals more hitlag (5 frames → 11), and has less ending lag (FAF 24 → 6), shortening its duration. This makes it one of the fastest pummels in the game and increases the amount of times Sheik can pummel the opponent before they break free or she throws them, thus being more reliable for racking up damage.
• Up throw:
  • The move deals more damage (2% → 3% (throw), 5% → 6% (total)).
  • The move deals significantly more knockback (80 base/60 scaling → 110/62). This limits its 50/50 setups to low to mid percentages only, while still unable to KO at realistic percentages (until Sudden Death).
• Down throw:
  • Down throw has altered knockback (80 base/90 scaling → 95/60). This overall improves its combo potential.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Needle Storm:
  • Its charge can be canceled by jumping or spot dodging.
  • Its charge cancel animation when inputting shield is shorter (8 frames → 4), allowing it to be canceled faster.
    • However, Its charge can no longer be canceled immediately by rolling, instead incurring 4 frames of lag beforehand.
  • It reaches its full charge faster (98 frames → 82).
  • It has much less landing lag (30 frames → 12).
  • It has less ending lag (1-5 needles/6 needles: FAF 48/54 → 42/49), allowing for better followups with the aerial version.
  • The clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit's duration reduced accordingly (frames 1-3 (clean)/4-10 (late) → 1-5/6-10).
  • A needle deals less damage (1.9% → 1.5% (clean), 1.2% → 0.8% (late)).
  • Needles travel slower (speed 12 → 10), and have a shorter duration (10 frames → 9).
  • A needle has less knockback scaling (180 → 167). Coupled with its lower damage, this reduces the move's already limited KO potential, but further increases its combo potential at high percentages.
  • The flight trajectory of aerial needles has been altered from approximately a 45° angle to a shallower 30° angle. This makes them worse for followups into aerials at lower percents, but better at higher percents.
  • After charging the move, Sheik holds the produced needles in one hand until they are fired.
• Burst Grenade:
  • The move no longer leaves Sheik helpless in the air.
  • It has less ending lag upon releasing the grenade.
  • The explosion’s hitbox is 20% larger (10u → 12u).
  • The grenade's vortex is clear/white rather than light blue.
• Vanish:
  • The move grants intangibility earlier when used on the ground (frame 19 → 14).
  • Vanish's explosion has more knockback scaling (102 → 112), noticeably improving its KO potential.
  • Sheik emits a gold flash right before she disappears.
  • Sheik's silhouette can be briefly seen in the direction the move travels, before she disappears. This makes it easier to predict where she teleports.
• Bouncing Fish:
  • After the first kick of Bouncing Fish hits an opponent, successive kicks deal more damage (12% → 13%) and knockback (26 base/90 scaling → 28/97), making them much stronger.
  • The move has slightly more startup lag (frame 17 → 18).
  • The move no longer grants intangibility.
  • The move no longer refreshes if Sheik is hit in midair after using it, hindering her recovery.
  • The first kick deals less damage (12% → 11%), though with its knockback scaling compensated (90 → 97).
  • The attack's hitboxes are considerably smaller (6u/4u → 3.5u/3u), reducing its reliability.
  • Bouncing Fish produces a splash of water at the start.
• Sheikah Dance:
  • Sheik has a new Final Smash called Sheikah Dance, replacing Light Arrow. She dashes forward while the Sheikah symbol flashes on-screen. If the initial attack lands, Sheik will trap the opponent in place and repeatedly beat them up and slash them with her dagger, before launching them away and behind her. This Final Smash is similar to Triforce Slash.
  • Sheikah Dance can only trap one opponent, as opposed to up to seven.
  • Sheikah Dance deals much higher, consistent damage (1% hit 1/44% first opponent/33% second/24% third/19% fourth/14% fifth/11% sixth/6% seventh → 3% hit 1, clean/2% hit 1, late/3% hits 2-3, 5-7, 9-11, 13-14/2% hits 4, 8, 12, 15/12% hit 16/52%-53% total).
  • Sheikah Dance launches at a higher angle compared to Light Arrow (20° → 361°).
  • Sheikah Dance's last hit deals less knockback due to its lower damage output. Combined with its higher angle, this makes it KO slightly later than Light Arrow despite its increased knockback (30 base/65 scaling → 65 base/135 scaling), though it remains among the strongest Final Smashes in the game.
  • Sheikah Dance does not produce the Home-Run Bat sound effect, unlike Light Arrow.

Update history

Sheik was buffed via game updates. Beginning with update 2.0.0, she received a few quality of life buffs. The hitbox of up smash's first hit was enlarged, allowing it to catch landings better and hit a larger number of tall and/or large characters when they are standing right next to Sheik. Down smash's first hit received an additional hitbox in order to improve its consistency. Forward aerial's edge lockout duration was decreased significantly, which made it much safer to use while off-stage. Up aerial auto-cancels earlier, which made it slightly better for drag down combos. Lastly, Burst Grenade's ending lag was decreased, which made it slightly safer as an edge-guarding option.

Update 3.0.0 brought a few buffs as well, three of which were noteworthy. Firstly, down tilt's sourspots were shrunken and repositioned, which made the sweetspot easier to land and thus improved the move's combo potential. Secondly, forward aerial became more reliable at hitting small fighters, thanks to its hitboxes being repositioned. Lastly, Needle Storm reaches its full charge noticeably faster. Aside from these these buffs, neutral infinite became slightly safer via its finisher's ending lag being decreased.

Update 7.0.0 further buffed Sheik in a number of ways, most notably in regard to Needle Storm and Burst Grenade. Needle Storm has less landing lag, improving its safety and combo potential. Burst Grenade's ending lag was decreased even further, its explosion has more active frames, and it can no longer be canceled out by attacks; altogether, these buffs addressed the move's primary flaws that have plagued it since SSB4.

In addition, a handful of Sheik's underwhelming moves were also improved to varying degrees. Down smash's overall lag was decreased and its hits connect even better than before. Vanish's disappearing hitbox KOs noticeably earlier, thanks to its knockback being increased. Standing grab's range was increased, which mildly restored one of her former out of shield options. Lastly, Sheik's shield was enlarged as part of a near-universal buff.

Following this, update 8.0.0 improved forward smash's consistency by adjusting its first hit's launching angles and knockback, as well as increasing the range of its second hit. Lastly, update 9.0.0 followed a similar format in regard to up tilt by increasing its first hit's hitstun in order to ensure it connects into its second hit, even against sufficiently fast combo breakers.

Overall, Sheik fares better than she did at the launch of Ultimate.

2.0.0

• Up smash's first hit has more range (6u → 6.1u).
• Down smash connects more reliably against aerial opponents (angle: 140° → 200°).
• Sheik can grab ledges faster after using forward aerial (frame 87 → 58).
• Up aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 47 → 44).
• Burst Grenade has less endlag (FAF 78 → 76).

3.0.0

• Rapid jab's finisher has less ending lag (FAF 42 → 36).
• Down tilt's sourspot has reduced range (size: 3.5u → 3.2u; X/Y offsets: 4u/-0.3u → 3u/-0.6u), making the tipper hitbox easier to land.
• Forward aerial has more vertical range starting from frame 7 (Y/Z offsets: 0u → -0.5u/1u (hitbox 0), -1u/1.5u (hitbox 1), enabling it to hit small characters from a rising short hop.
• Needle Storm charges 1.2x faster, reaching its full charge more quickly (98 frames → 82).
• Changes to shield mechanics make charged Needle Storm much harder to perfect shield, as each needle must be manually perfect shielded.

4.0.0

• Down aerial no longer has its downward movement disabled when used out of hitstun.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased.
• Down smash has less startup (frame 11/18 → 8/15), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 52 → 49).
• One of the hitboxes on down smash's first hit has been extended (Y offset: 8u → 5.2u-8u; Z offset: 7u → 0u-7u), while another of them launches at an angle more towards Sheik (140° → 165°). This allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
• Standing grab has more range (Z2 offset: 7.9 → 9.4 (ground only), 9.45 → 10.95 (air only)).
• Needle Storm has less landing lag (16 frames → 12), improving its combo potential.
• Burst Grenade has less ending lag (FAF 76-105 → 69-98 (grounded), 85-155 → 79-149 (aerial)).
• Burst Grenade's explosion has a longer duration (frames 50-51 → 50-53), and can no longer be negated by opposing attacks.
• Vanish's explosion has more knockback scaling (102 → 112), noticeably improving its KO potential.

8.0.0

• Forward smash:
  • The first hit's closest hitbox launches at a higher angle (26° → 35°), and both it and the farthest hitbox have reduced set knockback (62/45 → 47/30), allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The second hit has larger hitboxes (3.5u/4u → 4.8u/4.6u) with altered placements (X offset: -1.3u/5.2u → -1.6u/5.6u; Y offset: 0u → 1u/-0.1u), increasing its range.

9.0.0

• Up tilt's first hit has a hitstun modifier of 2, preventing characters with fast enough options out of hitstun from escaping the second hit.

Moveset

• Sheik can crawl, wall cling, and wall jump.

For a gallery of Sheik's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Kodachi (小太刀) / Reverse Kodachi (逆小太刀) / Piercing Strikes (連突) / Piercing Strikes Finish (連突終)	2%	An inward knifehand strike, followed by an upward knifehand strike. When button mashed, Sheik performs a barrage of knifehand strikes followed by a palm thrust. It has very minimal start-up (frame 2) and, despite having a very meager overall damage output, it is nevertheless decent for damage racking, especially if the opponent fails to SDI.
			1.6%
			0.3% (loop), 2% (last)
Forward tilt		Cycle Kick (円弧, Circular Arc)	3%	A roundhouse kick. Deals very poor damage, but its minimal start-up (frame 5) and ending lag (FAF 25) compensates for this. As a result, it boasts excellent combo potential from low to high percentages, including an up aerial at high percentages for a potential KO confirm.
Up tilt		Spindle Tree (真弓)	3% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2)	A stretch kick followed by an axe kick. The first hit is hard to land on grounded opponents. Like forward tilt, its low damage output is compensated by its minimal start-up (frame 5) and decent ending lag (FAF 33). As a result, it is a respectable combo option.
Down tilt		Whirlwind (旋風)	4.5%	A legsweep. Sheik's foot has a hitbox that launches the opponent at 90°, whereas the rest of her leg launches at 45°. The sweetspot combos into forward tilt, neutral/forward/up/back aerials, and up smash, the latter of which is a KO confirm (albeit one that requires strict timing) at around 90%. The sourspots, however, have significantly less combo potential in comparison. Although update 3.0.0 shrunk and repositioned the leg hitboxes in order to make the foot hitbox easier to land, proper spacing is nevertheless pivotal in order to use down tilt to its fullest.
Dash attack		Gale (疾風)	7% (clean), 5% (late)	Lunges to perform outward fanning knifehand strikes with both hands. While situational, its minimal start-up (frame 5) and decent base knockback make it serviceable at punishing or catching landings.
Forward smash		Twin Snake (双蛇)	5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	A roundhouse kick followed by a jumping spinning sidekick. Both attacks cause Sheik to move forward. One of Sheik's best KOing options, although its power compared to other forward smashes is below-average. Crosses up shields if performed close enough.
Up smash		Razor Wing (割符, Split Mark)	15% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	Raises her arms overhead and then quickly swings them downward to perform outward fanning knifehand strikes. There is a hitbox at Sheik's hands, just before she swings down her arms, that hits opponents above her. If performed close enough to a tall character, it is possible to land both hits of the move, but this is difficult to achieve. When sweetspotted, it is Sheik's strongest move overall and one of her best KOing options. However, it has high ending lag and the second hit fails to KO at reasonable percentages.
Down smash		Windmill (大車輪, Large Wheel)	4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	A modified butterfly kick performed from the windmill (a breakdancing move). Despite having a slightly below-average overall damage output for a smash attack, it is very unreliable for KOing due to its second hit's meager damage output. As of update 7.0.0, it has respectable start-up (frame 8) for a smash attack, which makes it decent at punishing rolls and setting up edge-guards.
Neutral aerial		Falling Leaves (落葉)	6% (clean sweetspot), 5% (clean sourspot), 4% (late sweetspot), 3% (late sour spot)	A flying kick. It has very minimal start-up (frame 3) and sex kick properties, which collectively make it a great combo breaker and out of shield option. It is also useful for edge-guarding due to its somewhat powerful sweetspot and its long-lasting sourspot. The late hitbox, upon landing onstage, also combos into Bouncing Fish at around 100% for a KO confirm. Auto-cancels in a short hop, but requires strict timing to do so.
Forward aerial		Hatchet (鉈)	4.5% (sweetspot), 3.8% (sourspot)	A lunging, downward arcing knifehand strike. Its sweetspot is located on Sheik's arm, while the sourspot is on her body. It comes out on frame 5 with minimal ending lag. Low base knockback, but very high knockback scaling. Combos into itself and other moves exceptionally well, including Bouncing Fish which can lead to a KO. Safe on shield if properly spaced. Has a very generous auto-cancel window, being able to do so after 11 frames.
Back aerial		Flying Swallow (飛燕)	9.5% (clean sweetspot), 7.5% (clean sourspot), 6% (late)	A side kick. While its power is slightly below-average for a back aerial, it can easily gimp characters with lackluster recoveries or KO outright while offstage starting at around 90%. Like up aerial, it hits on frame 4, making it one of the fastest moves of its kind in the game. Auto-cancels in a short hop.
Up aerial		Drill (錐)	1% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	An upward corkscrew flying kick followed by a thrust kick with the opposite leg. KOs reliably near the top blast zone, and can be set up into by forward tilt or down tilt, though this requires precise timing and doesn't KO until around 120%. It can be used after a forward tilt to drag the opponent down and lead into another forward tilt. Like back aerial, it hits on frame 4, making it one of the fastest moves of its kind in the game. It does not auto-cancel in a short hop.
Down aerial		Butcher Bird Revised (百舌改)	10% (descent), 2% (landing)	A downward flying kick. It is a stall-then-fall, and its clean hitbox is a meteor smash during its beginning frames. One of Sheik's least useful and most situational moves, as its lag makes it very punishable, and trying to use it offstage will most likely result in an instant self-destruct.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out. Sheik has one of the shortest overall grab ranges among the cast.
Pummel		Knee Strike (膝打)	1%	A knee strike. Fast but weak.
Forward throw		Shoulder Strike (肩打)	5% (hit), 2% (throw)	Performs the tie shan kao[1] (a technique used in Bajiquan). Combos into aerials and Bouncing Fish at low percents. Can combo into Bouncing Fish at higher percents, though this is easily avoidable with an air dodge. However, this can be conditioned and punished with Sheik's extremely fast mobility and frame data.
Back throw		Heel Strike (踵打)	5% (hit), 2% (throw)	Throws the opponent behind herself and then performs a mid-level side kick. It can potentially combo into neutral, forward, and back aerials at low percentages. It can also combo into Bouncing Fish at medium to high percentages, which has respectable KO potential while near the edge. However, this combo is risky, as it is heavily dependent on DI.
Up throw		Handstand Strike (倒立打)	3% (hit and throw)	Heaves the opponent up and then performs a handstand kick. It is one Sheik's least useful moves in general, due to its consistency as a read-dependent set-up into Vanish being worsened significantly since SSB4, as well as its meager damage output and inability to KO at reasonable percentages (it fails to KO middleweights until around 288% on Final Destination).
Down throw		Guillotine (断頭)	3% (hit and throw)	A collar drag takedown followed by a somersault axe kick. It can combo into neutral and forward aerials at low percents, and up aerial at low to medium percents.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	A kip-up transitioned into a double-footed scorpion kick.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Kneels and performs a palm thrust in front of herself and then behind herself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Squats on one leg and performs a roundhouse kick.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	A corkscrew dropkick.
Neutral special		Needle Storm	1.5% (per needle, close), 0.8% (per needle, far)	Accumulates up to six needles that can be thrown immediately or stored for later use. When used in the air, Sheik throws the needles downward at approximately 30° angle. One of Sheik's best options for camping and zoning. The needles have transcendent priority, and thus cannot stop or be stopped by other attacks (including, for example, other projectiles).
Side special		Burst Grenade	1% (grenade), 1% (vortex), 12.6% (explosion)	Throws a grenade attached to a tripwire. On detonation, the grenade creates a small vortex that pulls opponents towards it, then explodes. The detonation can be delayed a second by holding the special move button. The grenade can be thrown farther when used in the air or when thrown over an edge. The explosion is strong enough to KO middleweights at 115% near the edge, making it useful for edge-guarding. If Sheik is attacked before the grenade explodes, the grenade will detach from the tripwire and become a non-explosive item that anyone can use.
Up special		Vanish	12% (disappearance), 5% (reappearance)	After a short delay, Sheik destroys a Deku Nut in order to disappear via a small explosion before reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. Its disappearing hitbox's respectable damage output and very high knockback scaling enable it to KO at 100% while near the upper blast line. It also grants a small vertical boost when used in the air. Conversely, its reappearance hitbox deals much less damage, but also has a windbox that can push away opponents who are very close to wherever Sheik reappears. It grants intangibility on frames 19-53. Reappearing near an edge renders her helpless, though self-destructing with the move is difficult to do because it allows Sheik to grab the edge the moment she enters helplessness.
Down special		Bouncing Fish	11% (first kick), 13% (subsequent kicks)	A 360° Tengkong Pantui Cepu[2] (a kick used in Nanquan). If it connects with an opponent, she will backflip a distance away and land on her feet. She can then perform subsequent kicks up to three times by pressing the special move button again after the preceding kick connects. Upon missing, she experiences landing lag if she lands before the move's animation is over. It can also be executed earlier by pressing the special button again and covers more distance if the control stick is held in whatever direction Sheik is facing. Its long horizontal travel distance, respectable damage output, and high knockback scaling make it one of Sheik's most viable KOing options. It KOs middleweights at 120% while near the edge. Due to its earliest input hitting on frame 18 and its noticeable landing lag, however, it is punishable if it misses.
Final Smash		Sheikah Dance	1% (dashing hit), 2% (first hit), 3% (hits 1, 2, 4-6, 8-10, 12, 13), 2% (hits 3, 7, 11, 14), 12% (final)	Sheik dashes forward and slashes with her knife. If she catches anyone, the Sheikah eye symbol will appear onscreen, and the screen will darken. She will then proceed to launch an onslaught of punches, kicks and slashes from multiple directions before finally launching the trapped opponent with an upward slash. The last hit launches opponents in the opposite direction of the initial dash. Only one opponent can be trapped, although bystanders will also take damage during Sheikah Dance.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	78	2.178 – Initial dash 2.42 – Run	1.47	0.106	0.015	1.155	0.01 – Base 0.08 – Additional	0.15	1.75 – Base 2.8 – Fast-fall	3	39 - Base 18.75 - Short hop	40

Announcer call

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Appears from a whirlwind that scatters a few leaves.

• 

  Sheik's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Performs the pike (a breakdancing move).
• Side taunt: Pulls out the tripwire she uses for Burst Grenade and stretches it out, which emits a "twang" sound.
• Down taunt: A modified version of the age-uke (a blocking technique in Japanese martial arts).

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  Sheik's up taunt.

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  Sheik's side taunt.

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  Sheik's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Rears back her left hand up to her face, then quickly swings it outward.
• Performs a modified passé.

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  Sheik's first idle pose.

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  Sheik's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Sheik!	Sheik!	Sheik!	Sheik! Sheik! *claps 3 times*	Sheik!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Shiek!	Sheeeee - ik!	Sheik! Sheik! Sheik!	Sheik!

Victory poses

• Left: Performs her forward tilt (Cycle Kick) and then her down smash (Windmill) before striking a pose with her arms crossed in front of her face.
• Up: Performs the first two hits of her neutral attack (Kodachi + Reverse Kodachi), then stands up while rearing back her right hand up to her face.
• Right: Performs the fumikomi geri^[3] (a stomp-style kick in karate), followed by a mid-level side kick, and then performs the tate shuto uke^[4] (a blocking technique in Shotokan).

A flourished and abridged remix of the theme that plays when Link obtains a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda and has since become the main theme of The Legend of Zelda series.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Sheik players (SSBU)

•  Eim - Picked up Sheik during the pandemic and has been one of the best Sheik players in the world since, with several major placements at or near the top 8, including 4th at Seibugeki 13 and 7th at both Kagaribi 9 and Seibugeki 14.
•  Mr.R - Began playing more Sheik in 2022 and is Europe's best Sheik player. He was also a top 5 player in Europe in 2022 and was ranked 47th on the UltRank 2022 due to regularly placing at or near top 8 at European events, which included 2nd at Tech Republic VI and 9th at Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022.
•  Rox - One of the best Sheik players in North America who is also a top 10 player in Mexico. Most notably placing 9th at the supermajor Smash Factor 9 defeating Sonix, and has also placed 9th at Delfino Maza 2023 and 25th at Get On My Level 2023 and Smash Factor X. He was also ranked 86th on the UltRank 2022.
•  Sylph - One of the best Sheik players in Japan since 2022 who regularly places top 64 at Maesuma TOP and Sumabato events. He most notably placed 7th at the major Kagaribi 6 defeating Jogibu and DIO.
•  VoiD - The best Sheik player in the early metagame, where he played the character alongside Pichu, placing 5th at Mainstage and 9th at Glitch 7 - Minus World. He was also the first Sheik player ranked on a global ranking, ranking 38th on the Fall 2019 PGRU. Although less active in the current metagame, he has still seen some strong performances, including upsetting Sparg0 at Smash Ultimate Summit 6.
•  WebbJP - One of the best Sheik players in the world since 2023. His best performance to date was 9th at the supermajor Luminosity Makes Moves Miami 2023 defeating Light and Neo; he has also placed 7th at MomoCon 2023 and 25th at Super Smash Con 2023.

Tier placement and history

During Ultimate's early metagame, Sheik's representation was almost nonexistent due to the significance of her nerfs. With the reduction of her overall damage output, Sheik became notorious for having long combos that only amounted to the equivalent of 2-3 stray hits that the opponents dealt. As a result, much of her playerbase dropped her entirely due to the perception that she was a high effort, low reward character, and she was regularly considered a mid-to-low tier by the community.

Updates granted Sheik several useful buffs that improved her best moves. Furthermore, some of Sheik's former players -- most notably VoiD and Mr.R -- began picking her up again and showcased how Sheik's neutral game and advantage state, while not as prevalent as in the previous game, were still rather strong. This led many to consider Sheik as underrated in the metagame, and this is most apparent in Japan, who believed Sheik was a top tier character; this resulted in Japan having several notable Sheik players place highly at tournaments, most notably Eim. Sheik players would adapt to the changing meta and discover very potent and consistent setups and kill confirms with her, as well as using her overall moveset more effectively to take stocks and overwhelm opponents. Her improving results and increasing representation helped shift opinions on her viability. Sheik was ranked 35th on the first tier list, with Japan notably ranking Sheik 10 places higher. Still, some players believed the character should have been ranked higher due to her ability to overwhelm opponents, as well as the rise of many other Sheik players such as WebbJP. As it stands, Sheik is now ranked 31st on the second and current tier list at the top of the B+ tier; although, many players continue to argue that she should be ranked higher.

Classic Mode: Masquerade

Sheik's congratulations screen.

Sheik's opponents, like her, are characters who wear masks or other forms of headwear to conceal their identity.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Meta Knight	Fountain of Dreams	Forest Stage
2	Captain Falcon	Big Blue	Death Wind
3	Samus	Norfair	Opening/Menu - Metroid Prime
4	Roy	Mushroom Kingdom U	Underground Theme - Super Mario Land
5	Little Mac	Boxing Ring	Tunnel Scene - X-Scape
6	Mii Brawler (×2) Mii Gunner (×2) Mii Swordfighter (×2)	Final Destination	Meta Crystal	Horde Battle. Items do not appear. Mii Brawler costume combinations: Majora's Mask and Skull Kid's Outfit, Hockey Mask and SSB T-Shirt. Mii Gunner costumes: Shy Guy Mask and Butler Outfit, Ray Mk III Helmet and Ray Mk III Outfit. Mii Swordfighter costumes: Black Knight Helm and Black Knight Armor, Yiga Clan Mask and Yiga Clan Outfit.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Sheik has Gerudo Valley (Remix) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Sheik in World of Light

Although Sheik does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

During the mode itself, Sheik can be unlocked early on shortly after rescuing Mario, where the player arrives at a crossroad and has the choice to rescue her, Marth or Villager. If one of the others is rescued first, Sheik's path will be blocked by a force field created by Master Hand, which will disappear upon defeating a boss or can be circumvented by looping back to the other side.

Sheik has a separate awakening battle from Zelda, who appears in the opening cutscene.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
16		Sheik	Shield	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination

Spirit

Sheik's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Sheik has been unlocked. Unlocking Sheik in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Her fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with her artwork in Ultimate.

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  174. Sheik

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
104		Geno	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars	•Sheik •Peach •Kirby •Bowser •Mario		13,700	Mario Galaxy (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Timed battle (2:30) •The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly	Rainbow Road Medley
193		Impa (Ocarina of Time)	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Sheik		9,400	Temple	•Defense ↑ •Item: Deku Nut	•The enemy has increased defense after a little while	Gerudo Valley
261		Byrne Staven	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Sheik		1,800	Spirit Train (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power •The enemy's throws have increased power •Stamina battle	Full Steam Ahead
660		Sothe	Fire Emblem Series	•Sheik		3,600	Mushroomy Kingdom (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy favors dash attacks •The enemy has increased move speed	Time of Action
677		Jakob	Fire Emblem Series	•Sheik		3,500	Spear Pillar (Battlefield form)	•Item: Throwing Types	•The enemy's throwing-type items have increased power •Items will be pulled toward the enemy	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (for 3DS / Wii U)
735		Kat & Ana	WarioWare Series	•Sheik		9,000	Suzaku Castle	•Item: Throwing Types	•The enemy loves to jump	The Mysterious Murasame Castle Medley	Kat (purple costume) Ana (red costume)
751		Gray Fox	Metal Gear Solid Series	•Sheik		9,700	Shadow Moses Island	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Gray Fox) •Move Speed ↑	•The enemy has increased move speed •Hostile assist trophies will appear	Encounter
835		Rover	Animal Crossing Series	•Sheik •Villager		8,800	Spirit Train	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World
990		Cammy	Street Fighter Series	•Sheik (160 HP)		9,300	Bridge of Eldin (hazards off)	•Jump Power ↓	•The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power •Stamina battle •All fighters have reduced jump power	Cammy Stage Type B
1,016		Loki	Bayonetta Series	•Sheik		9,200	Umbra Clock Tower (Battlefield form)	•Invisibility •Item: Timer	•The enemy is invisible after a little while •Items will be pulled toward the enemy •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Tomorrow Is Mine (Bayonetta 2 Theme) (Instrumental)
1,069		Mummy	Castlevania Series	•Sheik ×2 (80 HP)		3,600	Dracula's Castle (Ω form)	N/A	•The enemy's throws have increased power •The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Stamina battle	Mad Forest
1,085		Shinobu	StreetPass Mii Plaza Series	•Sheik •Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 2123, Nia Wig, Ninja Suit)		1,500	Golden Plains (hazards off)	•Item: Bullet Bill	•The enemy is easily distracted by items	Boss 1 - Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword
1,313		Makoto Niijima	Persona Series	•Sheik •Giant Clear Wario		3,000	Dracula's Castle (Ω form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy is invisible	Last Surprise
1,413		Hawkeye & Riesz	Mana Series	•Sheik •Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 3223, Peach's Crown, Green Pirate Outfit, Type 4 Normal voice)		9,600	Great Bay (hazards off)	•Earthquake	•Timed battle (1:30) •Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage •The enemy favors special moves	Dawn in the Desert	Hawkeye
1,421		Alfyn & Therion	OCTOPATH TRAVELER	•Sheik •Dr. Mario		9,200	Distant Planet (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Poison Floor	•The floor is poisonous •The enemy's melee blows will heal them when they hit	Save the World, Heroes!	Therion
1,446		Yuffie	FINAL FANTASY Series	•Sheik		3,400	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Cosmo Canyon
1,454		Impa (Age of Calamity)	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Sheik •Sheik ×2		7,500	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	•Item: Bob-omb	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors special moves •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Destiny (Ablaze)	Impa Clones (default costume)

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
655		L'Arachel	Fire Emblem Series	•Robin •Sheik •Wario		1,600	Castle Siege	•Health Recovery	•The enemy is healed when the enemy's at high damage	Preparing to Advance	Rennac
1,052		Trevor C. Belmont	Castlevania Series	•Simon •Palutena •Sheik		13,000	Dracula's Castle	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Alucard)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Beginning	Grant Danasty
1,306		Phantom Thieves of Hearts	Persona Series	•Joker •Pikachu •Captain Falcon •Zero Suit Samus •Chrom •Sheik		13,300	Mementos (Haru Okumura background, hazards off)	•Sudden Final Smash •Item: Daybreak Parts	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There	Makoto Niijima / Queen
1,328		Hero's Comrades	DRAGON QUEST Series	•Ike (120 HP) •Tiny King Dedede (120 HP) •Zero Suit Samus (100 HP) •Sheik (130 HP) •Tiny Robin (90 HP) •Zelda (110 HP) •Link (100 HP)		13,300	Yggdrasil's Altar	N/A	•The enemy has increased melee-weapon damage and move speed •The enemy's smash attacks have increased power •Stamina battle	The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination	Sylvando
1,378		Kyle	ASTRAL CHAIN	•Cloud •Sheik Team ×3		4,200	New Pork City (hazards off)	•Attack Power ↑ •Item: Exploding Types	•The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Attack - Soma Bringer	Hermits
1,457		Elvis & Adelle	Bravely Default	•Robin •Sheik		3,800	Reset Bomb Forest (forest)	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy's magic attacks have increased power •The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •The enemy favors side specials	Save the World, Heroes!	Adelle
1,494		Travis Touchdown	No More Heroes Series	•Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 3132, Captain Falcon Helmet, Black SSB T-Shirt) •Sheik •Peach		3,700	Big Blue (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors special moves •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Live & Learn	Shinobu Jacobs
				•Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 3132, Travis Wig, Travis Outfit) •Sheik •Peach

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Artwork of all The Legend of Zelda fighters, as posted on the official The Legend of Zelda Twitter account.

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  Sheik's fighter card.

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  Sheik's unlock notice.

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  Using her grab on Skyworld.

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  Using her neutral aerial against an air dodging Wii Fit Trainer on Coliseum.

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  Surrounded by the flames of Kalos Pokémon League.

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  Using Bouncing Fish near a Goldeen on Tortimer Island.

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  Taunting alongside Ivysaur on Tomodachi Life.

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  Sheik on Lylat Cruise.

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  Sheik and King Dedede being hit by Mr. Game & Watch's down smash on Yoshi's Story.

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  Sheik getting hit by Toad's spores on Tortimer Island.

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  Sheik being buried by the male Wii Fit Trainer's neutral attack on 3D Land.

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  Sheik getting hit by Zero Suit Samus's back aerial on Luigi's Mansion.

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  Charging Needle Storm on Tortimer Island.

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  Sheik alongside the rest of The Legend of Zelda fighters on Great Plateau Tower.

Trivia

• Sheik is erroneously referred to as male on the Smash Blog despite being referred to as female in every Smash appearance thus far, as well as on various other official Nintendo social websites. Palutena and Viridi refer to Sheik with male pronouns in Palutena's Guidance, albeit the latter instance is done for comedic purposes as Pit then mentions her being an alter-ego of Zelda.
• Ultimate is the first Smash game where Sheik's design is based on a different The Legend of Zelda game than her alter-ego, Zelda.
  • Ultimate is also the first installment in the series that gives Sheik a Final Smash different from Zelda's.
• Sheik is the only The Legend of Zelda character:
  • Who doesn't fight characters from her own series in her Classic Mode route.
  • Who does not travel to her home stages in her Classic Mode route.
  • Who doesn't appear on the full group artwork version of the box cover.
• Sheik is the only The Legend of Zelda character who debuted in Melee that is not unlocked in the Sacred Land sub-area in World of Light and, by extension, is not controlled by Galeem.
• In English, Sheik and Joker are the only characters whose Classic Mode titles are each one word.
  • Coincidentally, both Sheik and Joker have similar playstyles (fast characters with weak, damage-racking attacks).
• Like in the previous installment, Sheik will revert to her Brawl idle animation while holding a small throwable item.
  • Sheik briefly also does her Brawl idle animation after doing an attack.
• In Palutena's Guidance, Sheik is referred to in the sense of having been present before in Smash ("Sheik appears to be wearing a traditional Sheikah outfit this time around."), despite every other newly recorded The Legend of Zelda character guidance bringing up the characters having separate incarnations throughout the franchise (Ganondorf being the same person, Link being a different person than before, and Zelda and Young Link being specific incarnations). This implies that she's the same version of Zelda/Sheik seen in Brawl and SSB4, in which her design was created for Brawl as a hypothetical transformation of the Twilight Princess incarnation of Zelda.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Applying Mountain Lean"

2.^ translates to "Vacant Cross-Legged Side Flip"

3.^ translates to "Stomping Kick"

4.^ translates to "Vertical Knife Hand Block"