Young Link (SSBU)

Young Link in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearance	in Melee
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Triforce Slash
Tier	B+ (38)

Young Link (こどもリンク, Young Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed as playable alongside his former successor Toon Link and the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018. Although the changes made to Link were not enough to change Young Link's status as a clone, he is not classified as an Echo Fighter. As such, Young Link is classified as Fighter #22.

As in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Fujiko Takimoto's portrayals of Young Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask were repurposed for Ultimate, with mostly returning voice clips from Melee, and in addition to some new ones sourced from these games.

Young Link is ranked 38th out of 82 on the tier list in the B+ tier. This is an overall improvement from his mid-tier placement in Melee, where he was ranked 17th out of 26. Young Link possesses great frame data and combo ability. The low knockback on his attacks allows him to rack up damage quickly and his disjointed range provides him safety from getting too close to his opponent. His projectiles also benefit his combo game, most notably his Fire Arrow, which has low startup lag and sends his opponents upwards. Young Link also possesses kill confirms at high percentages thanks to the first hit of his forward aerial.

Young Link is not without his shortcomings, however. Young Link has low range for a swordfighter, which forces him to get up close to deal effective damage, a flaw further worsened by him being a lightweight. His recovery is very punishable due to its predictable arcs. He also struggles to get KOs at high percents if he isn't able to get kill confirms, with his safest moves having very little KO power.

Overall, Young Link is often seen as the best of the three Links, and fares very well in the competitive environment thanks to strong results from players such as Toast, Kobe, and Supahsemmie.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Young Link being the 8th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Link or any character in his unlock tree, being the 6th character unlocked after Snake.
• Have Young Link join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Young Link must then be defeated on Great Bay. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Temple.

Attributes

Young Link is a lightweight character (weighing the same as Greninja and Isabelle), and is the lightest of the three Links, being 3 units lighter than Toon Link. Compared to his alternate timeline counterparts, he tends to be in the middle in regard to mobility, including his running speed, air speed and acceleration, and jump height. He has the highest fall speed and initial dash of the Links, though his fast fall speed is slower than the original Link thanks to Link's unusual fast fall speed boost. In terms of the rest of the cast, Young Link has an average running speed, high initial dash speed, low air speed and acceleration, high falling speed, and slightly above-average jump height. Finally, his gravity is average and tied with Link's. Overall, Young Link has middling mobility, with most of his quick movement potential coming from his high initial dash and fall speed.

Young Link's moveset is regarded as one of the best and most reliable in the entire game. While even the best characters in the game usually have one or two moves in their moveset regarded as unusually weak or situational, every one of Young Link's moves is strong and flexible, with a mix of versatile ranged combat and robust boxing.

Young Link uses the Kokiri Sword, the starting weapon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, granting him disjointed range and giving him the ability to space out his opponents, as well as making his sword attacks risky to trade with unless the opponent has disjointed range of their own. Unlike many sword users, however, this is coupled with outstanding frame data. Although the Link archetype has been synonymous with laggy frame data up until Ultimate, Young Link has some of the best frame data in the game, with many of his moves being infamous for how quickly they come out and how little cooldown they have. As a result, many moves of his are extremely safe on shield, such as his down tilt, neutral air, forward air, back air, and even his Boomerang. Additionally, the speed of his moveset makes it reliable for one of Young Link’s most notable aspects: his combo game.

While the Link archetype is one that has never been known for combos, Young Link subverts this by providing one of the most complex and varied combo games out of the entire cast. His up tilt and especially down tilt are well designed to start combos, knocking the opponents up into the air with weak knockback to set up for his aerials, while his jab can transition into a rapid jab for respectable damage, create mixups through his surprisingly fast jab cancels, or be used to jab lock opponents and set up combos with down tilt or finish stocks with an up special or forward smash. However, his aerials are truly what gives him the outstanding combo and boxing game he has. Most of Young Link's aerials are capable of both starting combos as well as continuing them, making their usage very flexible and wide, as well as dealing significant damage.

His neutral aerial, perhaps his best aerial, is a simple sex kick. Its late hit in particular is extremely good for combos, being able to both start and continue them well into high percentages and being able to be followed up with a majority of Young Link's moveset. It can also lead to tech chase situations at high percents when the move causes opponents to go into tumble. Meanwhile, the clean hit is very reliable at warding off opponents, prevents other combo-oriented characters from overwhelming Young Link with combos of their own, has enough power to kill at high percentages, and provides him with a fast, safe and reliable out of shield option. Overall, the sheer utility of this move has caused it to gain a reputation as one of the best aerials in the game.

Young Link's forward and back aerials are both designed similarly. Both are combo attacks that consist of a first weak hit that stuns the enemy in place for a second launching hit. However, these are both meant to be used in different ways. His back aerial is much more geared towards combos as it comes out fast, has very little lag, and deals minimal knockback, making it easy to follow up with another back aerial or another move. His forward aerial is instead a combo finisher as it comes out slower and recovers slower than his back air in exchange for having much more power and knockback, providing significant KO power. Notably, canceling either of these moves by landing after the first hit allows Young Link to combo in to almost any move in his kit depending on the situation.

The up aerial is a thrust above Young Link that comes out very fast for how strong it is and lingers a while, making it useful for covering the space above him. It can be used to juggle opponents, as its large disjoint makes it hard to challenge. Additionally, his up aerial is a powerful KO move and can be comboed into quite flexibly. His down aerial, while not being a combo tool except in relatively rare situations, serves as a reliable landing option or jump callout due to its lingering, disjointed hitbox and considerable power even on the late hit.

Young Link's special moves grant him many more options to work with. Like his normals they tend to be fast, flexible and safe. Fire Arrow fires a flaming arrow in front of Young Link. It is incredibly fast and quick-recovering, and even an uncharged arrow travels a respectable distance, making it a very persistent poking tool when zoning. The arrow itself also deals low upwards knockback with high hitstun, making them reliable combo starters, provided Young Link is close enough to his opponent or can catch the upward knockback with another projectile (including another arrow). Fire Arrow can also be charged, allowing it to fly further and do more damage than a noncharged arrow, which can be useful for catching landings, mixing up timings against certain reflectors, or pressuring far away targets. However, this charge cannot be stored, unlike moves such as Charge Shot.

Boomerang is slower than Fire Arrow, but comes with the perks of more damage, lasting much longer, being able to be thrown at different angles, and returning to Young Link after travelling a certain distance, meaning that the opponent must remain aware of the Boomerang’s location even after it has passed them. Boomerang is best used as a lingering trap to grant Young Link stage control and for challenging people above or below you with its many angles. Interestingly, a point blank Boomerang is actually safe on shield against most of the cast, something uncharacteristic of a projectile.

Bomb, Young Link's third and final projectile, is perhaps his most complex and flexible. When used, Bomb functions as a held item, allowing Young Link to throw it forward, backward, up, and down, in addition to Z-dropping it, which may be used to pressure people below him or drop it and have it lie on the ground until it explodes. Bomb grants Young Link a numerous amount of trapping opportunities, such as being able to use dropped Bombs to cover platforms or ledge getup options, as well as setting up for combos if the Bomb hits an opponent.

This diverse projectile kit allow Young Link to play as a zoner, much like regular Link does. However, while most zoners' weaknesses are their poor frame data and inability to get opponents off of them, Young Link is more than capable of fighting up close and actually likes when his opponents get close to him, as it allows him to take advantage of his combo game. Speaking of combos, his last special move, Spin Attack, serves as a surprisingly effective combo starter on the ground, where it knocks opponents up into the air with weak knockback and has little endlag. Starting frame 9 and hitting on both sides, it provides a powerful out of shield option with great damage reward. In the air, it is instead a combo finisher or hard read, reliably KOing opponents at (or beyond) the ledge.

Young Link's grab game may be the best of the Links and provides him with additional options. Unlike Link, Young Link still retains use of the Hookshot for his grab, giving him a very long, disjointed grab range in exchange for his grab being laggier than unarmed grabs and thus requiring a more spacing-dependent grappling style, either grabbing at range or using turnaround grabs to create space. Additionally, the Hookshot itself can be used as a grab aerial attack. It has the longest range of any of his aerials, and can confirm in to a variety of followups, including his neutral air or up smash for KOs at higher percents. This grab aerial attack also provides him with a tether recovery, which is often much safer than his Spin Attack. His forward throw is one of the strongest forward throws in the game, KOing middleweights at the ledge of Final Destination around 130% depending on their directional influence. Some Young Link players will enjoy trying to forward-throw their oppponents very quickly before they've had a chance to DI. Young Link's grabs also have solid combo potential, as his up and down throws both provide combos at low to mid percents. His back throw is the least useful of his throws, but can set up for an edgeguard.

However, while he has some very potent strengths, Young Link has some notable weaknesses. His range, while disjointed, is significantly lacking when compared to other sword users. As a result, despite having a sword, Young Link is beaten out in range by nearly every other swordfighter in the game, causing his mid-range game to be rather poor as his attacks are too short ranged to hit but his projectiles leave him wide open to attack. Unlike other sword characters, he still needs to get up close and personal if he wants to use any attacks other than his projectiles, which leads into his second issue of his mobility.

While Young Link's mobility is average overall, this average mobility can tend to clash with his combo oriented moveset. This can lead to situations where Young Link is simply too slow to continue a combo he has started. While Fire Arrows can help alleviate this by being used to "hold" opponents in hitstun while Young Link gets over to continue the combo, it is not ideal or even possible in all situations. His low air speed can also limit his ability to approach or escape, making him dependent on his projectiles for setting the terms of engagement.

Additionally, Young Link's recovery, while much better than in Melee, can be exploitable. His Spin Attack, while having good reach, travels on a predictable arc and only hits to his sides, allowing him to be edgeguarded by characters who can hit his head, or be blocked by characters with counters such as Lucina. Young Link has a variety of options to deepen his recovery potential thanks to his tether recovery and many projectiles he can throw at the stage to cover himself, but in bad situations may be forced to use his up special in a way that's very vulnerable or predictable.

Young Link's KO potential can also be a mixed bag. His up smash gives him excellent kill potential out of shield, but is risky if it misses. While he has many safe moves that kill such as his neutral air, forward air, and forward tilt, they may kill quite late, often requiring the opponent to be past 150%. Young Link is very dependent on his melee hits in order to kill, challenging him to contend with his sometimes-awkward approach game and short reach. As usual, this can be mitigated with projectiles, which provide combos even at very high percents and give Young Link an opening with which to approach. Stale moves can also present challenges--moves like his nair and fair may have been heavily involved in combos and neutral, meaning they may be missing their full power when used for a KO. These factors, when combined with a large number of combos and setups to learn, cause Young Link to have a rather high learning curve, especially at top level play.

In summary, Young Link, despite featuring a very similar moveset to his alternate timeline counterparts, has a unique design and playstyle unlike anybody else in the game. He is regarded as having one of the best combo games and above average zoning tools, giving him the ability to play both hyper defensively and hyper aggressively and switch between the two playstyles on the fly to throw opponents off.

Differences from Link

The parent Link has received a significant overhaul to his aesthetic design and playstyle wise that references his appearance in Breath of the Wild. As Young Link hails from Ocarina of Time, his moveset is much closer to his adult self's appearances in Melee and the original Super Smash Bros., effectively serving as the classic Link archetype for this game. He retains moves and characteristics from Melee that the Hero of the Wild lacks (most notably a flurry attack and Hookshot), yet he has also received a few changes that reference the Hero of Twilight as he appeared in Brawl and in Super Smash Bros. 4. While these changes further de-clone Young Link from Link, he remains a full clone instead of a semi-clone due to his large number of shared attacks (compared to Toon Link, who has roughly as many unique attacks as not). Of note is that with the exception of his neutral infinite, every move that Young Link does not share with Link is instead shared with Toon Link.

Aesthetics

• Young Link wears the Kokiri Tunic by default, whereas Link wears the Champion's Tunic and Hylian Trousers by default.
  • Unlike Young Link, Link's alternate costumes include model modifications via the Wild Set and its respective variations.
• Young Link wields the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield, whereas Link wields the Master Sword and Hylian Shield.
  • Unlike Link, who holds his sword and shield in his right and left hands to reflect Breath of the Wild, Young Link holds his sword and shield in his left and right hands, as seen in Zelda game's prior to Skyward Sword.
• Young Link's on-screen appearance, taunts, idle poses, and two of his victory poses are different from Link's.

Attributes

• Young Link is shorter than Link. While this does make him harder to hit, it also results in him having less reach in his attacks. Young Link's shield is also smaller than Link's (radius: 10.9 → 10), overall covering him better vertically due to his shorter stature, but worse horizontally.
• Young Link will sometimes hold his Deku Shield to the side during his walking and idle animations. This makes it less reliable for blocking projectiles.
• Young Link's Kokiri Sword has less of a disjointed range advantage on his attacks than Link, which gives him inferior range when combined with his shorter height.
• Young Link deals less knockback for most of his attacks. Overall, this weakens his KO potential in comparison to Link, but it also grants Young Link access to new combos when combined with his faster frame data.
• Young Link can wall jump, aiding his recovery and ledge play options on stages with walls.
• Young Link walks faster than Link (1.247 → 1.26).
• Young Link dashes faster than Link (1.534 → 1.749).
  • Young Link's initial dash speed is faster than Link's (1.98 → 2.09).
  • Young Link's dash acceleration is lower than Link's (0.17567 → 0.1342).
• Young Link's traction is slightly lower than Link's (0.113 → 0.105), making it slightly harder for Young Link to punish out of shield.
• Young Link's air friction is slightly lower (0.0038 → 0.00375).
• Young Link's air speed is faster than Link's (0.924 → 0.966).
• Young Link's base air acceleration is higher than Link's (0.01 → 0.02), giving him a higher total air acceleration (0.05 → 0.06).
• Young Link falls faster (1.6 → 1.8) than Link. However, his fast falling speed is slower (3.04 → 2.88).
  • The difference between Young Link's falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower than Link's (increase: 90% → 60%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.
• Young Link jumps higher than Link (27.8 → 33.66 (jump), 13.38 → 16.26 (short hop), 29 → 33.66 (double jump)).
• Young Link is significantly lighter than Link (104 → 88). This makes Young Link significantly easier to KO than Link.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Young Link's neutral attack can be followed by a neutral infinite and a finisher, unlike Link's.
  • The first hit has much less startup lag (frame 7 → 4).
  • The first hit has a lower hitlag multiplier (1.6× → 1.5×).
  • The second hit has more startup lag (frame 5 → 6).
  • The first and second hits have much less ending lag (FAF 25 → 18 (hit 1), 25 → 17 (hit 2)).
  • The third hit uses Link's previous animation: a thrust instead of an upward slash.
  • The third hit has more ending lag (FAF 35 → 36).
  • All hits deal less damage (3% → 2% (hit 1), 3% → 1.5% (hit 2), 4% → 3.5% (hit 3), 10% → 7% (total)).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has noticeably less startup lag (frame 15 → 10).
  • It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 15-19 → 10-12), which also causes it to have one more frame of ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 40 → 34).
  • It deals less damage (13% → 12% (base)/11% (tip)) and knockback (55 base/82 scaling → 30/85 (blade), 25/85 (body)), making it considerably weaker than Link's.
• Up tilt:
  • Young Link's up tilt uses Link's previous animation, where it starts from the front rather than the back.
  • It has more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
  • It has a longer duration (frames 8-12 → 9-14) and less ending lag (FAF 36 → 32).
  • It deals less damage (11% → 8%) with knockback not fully compensated (30 base/103/111/105/104 scaling → 20 base/130/128/126 scaling), making it weaker than Link's.
    • However, this improves its combo potential when combined with its lower ending lag.
  • The sword hit launches at a consistent angle (95°/85° → 85°).
  • The body hit launches at a lower angle (85° → 75°).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 31 → 26), as well as less knockback (90 base/30 scaling → 80/25), making it better for combos.
  • Although it does not reach as far as Link's, it uses three larger, non-extended hitboxes rather than a single small, extended hitbox (2u → 3.4u/3.4u/3.0u). This gives it more vertical range.
  • It does not deal consistent damage (9% → 10%/9%/7%).
• Dash attack:
  • Young Link has a different dash attack: instead of performing the Jump Attack from Ocarina of Time, he performs a lunging downwards slash.
  • It has much less startup (frame 20 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 57 → 35), making it much safer.
  • It deals less damage (14% (tip)/13% (blade)/12% (body) → 11% (base)/10% (tip)) and knockback (70 base/85 scaling (tip), 85/85 (blade), 85/77 (body) → 70/70) and the tip of the Kokiri Sword is a sourspot, making it considerably weaker than Link's.
• Forward smash:
  • The first hit of Young Link's forward smash cannot fire a Sword Beam at 0%.
  • The first hit has less startup (frame 17 → 15) and ending lag (FAF 51 → 48) and has a wider continuability window (frame 23-36 → 21-39 (13 frames → 18)).
  • The first hit always deals lower damage (7% (base)/14% (tip) → 6%) and knockback (45 base/12 scaling (base), 30/100 (tip) → 35/40 base/15 scaling). This removes the tip hitbox's KO potential, but allows it to connect into the second hit more consistently.
  • The first hit launches at a lower angle than Link's base hit (69°/60° → 60°/50°).
  • The second hit has more startup lag (frame 10 → 11).
  • The second hit has much less ending lag (FAF 61 → 50).
  • The second hit deals less damage (13% (blade)/12% (body) → 12% (base)/10% (tip)) and knockback (85 base/89 scaling → 43/115).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has noticeably less ending lag (FAF 78 → 70).
  • The first two hits have a slightly shorter duration (10-15 → 10-14 (hit 1), 25-30 → 25-29 (hit 2)).
  • The first and third hits deal less damage (4% → 3% (hit 1), 11%/10%/9% → 8%/7% (hit 3)) and the knockback in the third hit is not fully compensated (60 base/96 scaling → 75/108), hindering its KO potential.
  • The third hit launches at a consistent angle (80°/90° → 100°).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup (frame 12 → 9) and ending lag (FAF 55 → 50).
  • Both hits deal less damage (17%/16%/14% → 13%/10% (hit 1), 12%/11%/10% → 10%/9% (hit 2)) and knockback (40 base/88 scaling → 30/90 (hit 1), 80/63 → 25 base/90/70 scaling (hit 2)).
  • The first hit launches at a much lower angle (78° → 30°).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has less startup lag (frame 7 → 4).
  • It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 7-31 → 4-27), which also causes it to have one frame more ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 39 → 36).
  • It autocancels earlier (frame 36 → 32). Unlike Link's, it can autocancel in a short hop.
  • The clean hit deals consistent damage (11%/9% → 10%) and has different knockback values (22 base/100 scaling → 20/108).
  • The late hit deals less damage (6% → 5%).
    • However, it has less base knockback (15 → 10), improving its combo potential when combined with its reduced damage.
  • The late hit lacks Link's notoriously large lingering hitboxes, with 2 of the 3 hitboxes being shrunk considerably (4.5u → 3u). Combined with Young Link's shorter, wider legs, this reduces the move's disjoint considerably.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's first hit has less startup lag (frame 16 → 14).
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 52 → 41), improving its combo potential at lower percents.
  • It has noticeably less landing lag (11 frames → 6).
  • It autocancels earlier (frame 53 → 41), matching its interruptibility. Unlike Link's, it can autocancel in a full hop.
  • Both hits deal less damage (8% → 6% (hit 1), 10% → 8%/7% (hit 2)) and the knockback in the second hit is not fully compensated (43 base/120 scaling → 45/125), hindering its KO potential.
    • However, this further improves its combo potential when combined with its lower ending lag.
  • The second hit launches at a slightly higher angle (44° → 48°).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's second hit has more startup lag (frame 15 → 18).
  • Back aerial's first hit's aerial hitboxes deal less set knockback (36 → 20). Combined with Young Link's faster falling speed and the greater delay between the hits, this makes the move connect less consistently.
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30).
  • The second hit has different knockback values (45 base/98 scaling → 40/102).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial uses its animation from Melee, making it more closely resemble its appearance in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
  • Up aerial has noticeably less startup lag with a longer active duration (frames 11-40 → 5-49), making it safer to use and decreasing its ending lag compared to the hitbox.
    • However, this also causes it to autocancel later (frame 43 → 56), increasing its ending lag before it can autocancel. Unlike Link's, it cannot autocancel in a full hop.
  • It has a shorter initial autocancel window (frames 1-10 → 1-4).
  • The clean hit deals less knockback (23 base/93 scaling → 25/82).
  • The late hit deals less damage (13% → 12%) with knockback not fully compensated (18 base/88 scaling → 25/82), hindering its KO potential.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has less startup lag with a longer active duration (frames 14-64 → 13-64).
    • However, the clean hit has a shorter active duration (frames 14-19 → 13-15).
  • It has less landing lag (19 frames → 17).
  • It has a larger initial autocancel window (frames 1-9 → 1-12).
  • It deals more knockback scaling (80/78 → 83) and launches at a higher angle (270°/60° → 70°), improving its KO potential near the vertical blastzone.
    • However, it does not have a meteor smash hitbox.
  • The bounce-off hit deals less damage (11% → 9%) with knockback fully compensated (50 base/80 scaling → 40/100).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Young Link retains the Hookshot while Link no longer has a tether grab.
    • Because of this, all grabs have much longer range, as well as a longer duration (2 frames → 7).
    • However, all grabs have noticeably more startup (frame 6/9/10 (standing/dash/pivot) → 12/14/15) and ending lag (FAF 35/43/38 → 52/60/55), making them riskier to use at close range, and easier to punish if they miss.
    • This gives Young Link a grab aerial and a tether recovery.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals slightly more damage (2.5% → 3% (throw), 5.5% → 6% (total)).
  • It deals drastically more knockback (75 base/85 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO under 140% at the edge.
  • It launches at a higher angle (33° → 52°).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw deals slightly more damage (2.5% → 3% (throw), 5.5% → 6% (total)).
  • It deals more knockback (67 base/110 scaling → 45/140), allowing it to KO under 200% at the edge.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals less damage (5% → 4% (hit 1), 7% → 6% (total)) and knockback (24 base/230 scaling → 30/210).
• Down throw:
  • It has different knockback values (60 base/125 scaling → 70/115).
  • It launches at a slightly higher angle (83° → 86°).
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack has Young Link swipe his sword in front of himself, unlike Link who stabs forward.
  • Edge attack has much shorter range.

Special moves

• Fire Arrow:
  • Fire Arrow less startup lag (frame 16 → 14) than Link's Bow and Arrows.
  • Arrows charge faster (60 frames → 50 frames).
  • Arrows are fired at a higher angle (2.5˚ → 4˚).
  • Arrows fly faster when uncharged (speed 2.6 → 2.8), but fly much slower when fully charged (speed 10 → 6.3). The arrows are also floatier (gravity 0.054 → 0.035).
    • Overall, arrows have more range at low charge levels, and less range at high charge levels.
  • The arrows have a shorter lifespan (46 frames → 35).
  • It has significantly less ending lag (FAF 45 → 38).
  • It deals more knockback (10 base/71 scaling → 45/70) and launches upward instead of away (361° → 78°), increasing his combo ability and making the move safer on hit up close.
  • It deals flame damage (hence the name).
  • Unlike Link's, arrows can not be picked up.
• Boomerang:
  • Boomerang deals more damage (8% (clean)/6% (late) → 11%/7%), which increases further if used as a smash special move (9.6% (clean)/7.2% (late) → 13.2%/8.4%).
  • Boomerang can be angled more (max angle change: 26˚ → 33˚).
    • However, the clean hit has a much shorter duration (frames 27-36 → 27-29).
  • Boomerang has a shorter max duration (129 frames → 127 (regular), 171 → 163 (smash)).
  • A smash input has less initial speed (3.1 → 2.9).
  • The return speed of the boomerang is slower (3 → 2.8).
  • It deals less knockback (80/60 base/40 scaling → 55 base/30 scaling).
  • The return hitbox deals less damage (3% → 2%).
  • The return hitbox deals less knockback (50 base/40 scaling → 40/30) and launches vertically (70° → 90°).
• Spin Attack:
  • The grounded version of Spin Attack lands multiple hits instead of one, allowing it to trap opponents within its hitboxes, and the late hitboxes inflict more damage.
    • However, the knockback values are barely compensated from Link's clean hit (60 base/88 scaling → 71/85), make it not a viable KO move unlike Link's.
  • The grounded version launches opponents upwards, allowing for more follow-ups.
  • The aerial version's first and final hits deal less damage (4% → 3%) and knockback (30 base/200 scaling → 40/180).
  • The aerial version grants more height due to being floatier, improving its recovery distance.
  • Young Link's air speed is restricted slightly more after using the move (air speed multiplier: 0.909 → 0.9), and air acceleration is also reduced more.
  • The aerial version has less landing lag (30 frames → 24).
• Bomb:
  • Young Link retains Link's original bombs that detonate automatically, instead of the Remote Bomb.
  • It hits four times instead of once.
    • It deals more damage (7% → 8-9.6% (2-2.4% per hit)).
• Triforce Slash:
  • Young Link's Final Smash is Triforce Slash, which was Link's Final Smash in his previous appearances.
  • It deals drastically more damage (35% → 60%) with multiple hits, improving its KO potential.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

Young Link has been significantly buffed in the transition from Melee to Ultimate. His attributes, moveset, and general gameplan have all been significantly improved in the transition, and he has gained a better combo game, whereas the changes to the general pace of Ultimate have contributed to his benefits.

Young Link's speed has been improved from Melee, both in terms of his mobility and frame data. Many of his attacks have decreased startup and ending lag (such as his neutral attack, forward and down tilts, and dash attack), and his aerials have heavily decreased landing lag (even compared to their L-canceled counterparts in Melee), improving his ability to land. Some of his moves have also been reworked to make them more reliable and effective, such as his up smash and his forward and back aerials, and the weakening of SDI heavily benefits his multi-hit attacks. His grab game has also been improved thanks to the universal changes to tether grabs, as they now have less ending lag and a longer duration. His forward throw also has increased knockback, giving him a new KOing option.

His special moveset has also seen heavy improvements. Fire Arrow has less ending lag and increased knockback, Boomerang deals less knockback as a result of its lower damage, grounded Spin Attack has less ending lag after its final hit, and aerial Spin Attack's hits link into each other much more consistently. Bombs were also significantly buffed, as their multi-hits accumulate their damage faster, they travel farther when thrown, no longer deal damage to Young Link if they hit an enemy head-on, and can be "soft-tossed" or slowly Z-dropped without exploding. All of these changes combined together not only grant Young Link a deceptively improved zoning game, but have also further improved his combo ability from mid-distance.

The changes to Ultimate's engine have also generally benefitted Young Link. The universal increase in mobility, the ability to use any attack out of a run, and the increased shieldstun have vastly improved Young Link's close quarters combat, as he can now close in on the distance with less issue, and his attacks' above average damage output renders them harder to punish (most infamously his tilt attacks). The universal reduction to landing lag is an especially notable benefit, as not only does this improve his ability to land, but it improves his aerials' safety on shield (despite the reduced shieldstun on aerial attacks), but has also dramatically improved his combo game up-close outside of his down throw and Bombs, with him now having set-up options by virtue of his neutral aerial's late hit and the first hits of his forward and back aerials. The removal of edgehogging, the introduction of ledge trumping and the changes to invincibility when grabbing an edge have also notably improved Young Link's recovery, making him much less vulnerable to getting edgeguarded or getting hit if he doesn't grab the stage's edge.

Although he has mostly received buffs, Young Link is not without some nerfs. In exchange for his now excellent combo ability, some of Young Link's attacks deal less damage (most notably his projectiles), now requiring him to string more hits in order to rack up more damage. A few of his attacks also have slightly increased startup and ending lag, while others have shorter durations, bringing them more in line with the rest of the cast. His aerial mobility is also slightly worse (especially when relative to the cast). In terms of gameplay changes, the changes to air dodging hinder Young Link's mobility, as wavedashing and wavelanding are significantly less effective due to their increased landing lag. The removal of meteor canceling has hurt Young Link more than any other returning veteran, as his fast falling speed renders him highly vulnerable to them, while the loss of his own down tilt's and down aerial's meteor smash hitboxes result in him gaining no benefits from its removal.

Overall, Young Link's gameplan has radically changed between both games, which has also resulted in a slight increase to his already high learning curve. Young Link now has reliable damage-racking capabilities at all ranges, courtesy of an improved zoning game and a deceptively improved combo game that doesn't rely on his bombs, which now makes it easier for him to close in on the distance against other characters and harder for other characters to keep up with him, and he has less trouble at landing due to his aerials' lower landing lag. However, some of Young Link's weaknesses from Melee still remain, most notably his below average range for a swordfighter (despite it improving in the transition) and his still limited KOing ability despite the higher knockback on some of his moves and his new hit confirms, meaning Young Link still has to take risks in order to KO the opponent. Regardless, he is a much better character than he was in Melee.

Aesthetics

• Due to the game's graphical improvements, Young Link's design is drastically more detailed, particularly in his hair. His colors are more subdued than they were in Melee, while his eye color is more vibrant.
• The Kokiri Sword now has a bronze hilt and leaves behind new sword trails:
  • All standard sword attacks have a white trail with blue accents, as opposed to a pure white trail in Melee.
  • Spin Attack has a yellow and blue trail, similar to the one Link had in SSB4, instead of purple as in Melee.
• Young Link is much more expressive. He appears angry while attacking, and smiles in his taunts and one of his victory poses.
• Young Link has been updated with universal features introduced in Brawl and SSB4.
  • Young Link now has an on-screen appearance, a Boxing Ring title, a Palutena's Guidance conversation, and two new taunts. His taunt from Melee has been moved to his down taunt and executes significantly faster.
  • Young Link has gained three additional alternate costumes, bringing his total up to the standard eight. His Dark Link costume now has the same color scheme as Link and Toon Link's corresponding counterparts, making the costume appear virtually almost identical to Dark Young Link in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, albeit with gray hair.
  • Young Link uses various voice clips for any move between the third hit of his neutral attack, any tilt attack, his dash attack, and any aerial attack (except grab aerial), and always uses specific clips for each of his smash attacks.
  • Young Link has new voice clips for taking medium and heavy knockback, when Star KO'd, when waking out of sleep status when not suffering any knockback, and a second KO voice clip.
    • Young Link also has a voice clip when emerging from underwater, although it now uses the voice clip previously used for his taunt in Melee, which now uses a new voice clip.
• All sword attacks make a standard slash sound effect on hit, instead of a punch/kick sound effect like in Melee.
• Young Link's victory pose where he adjusts his belt is slightly different. After adjusting his belt, he holds the Kokiri Sword and flicks his nose with his thumb.

Attributes

• Young Link is relatively bigger than in Melee. This increases his range, but also increases his hurtbox.
• Like all characters, Young Link's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Young Link walks faster (1.2 → 1.26).
• Young Link runs faster (1.6 → 1.749).
  • His initial dash speed is much faster (1.72 → 2.09).
• Young Link's air speed is slower (1 → 0.966), one of the few exceptions to returning veterans. It has gone from the 6th highest air speed to only the 60th highest.
• Young Link's falling speed has been reduced (2.13 → 1.8), but is now faster relative to the roster.
• Young Link's midair jump is significantly higher. This improves his ability to recover back to the stage.
• Young Link's fast falling speed is much more in line with the rest of the roster (2.2 → 2.88), in comparison to his almost unnoticeable fast fall in Melee. This greatly increases the versatility of his air game, and allows him to use various mixups like other characters.
• Young Link's Deku Shield now protects him from projectiles while walking, similar to the shields of all other Link incarnations.
• Young Link is slightly heavier (85 → 88), improving his survivability, while still being less susceptible to combos than in Melee due to the changes to hitstun and his decreased falling speed.
• The removal of meteor canceling harms Young Link more than any other returning veteran, as he no longer has access to any meteor smashes of his own, whereas his endurance is significantly hindered against opponents' meteor smashes.
• Both rolls have noticeably less ending lag (FAF 38 → 29 (forward), 34 (back)), making them safer to use for repositioning and escaping pressure.
• Both rolls grant less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 4-14 (forward), 4-15 (back)).
• Spot dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 23 → 25).
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2), making it better for escaping combos. Due to its altered mechanics, it also no longer causes helplessness, and allows Young Link to sweetspot edges with directional air dodges.
• Air dodge grants less intangibility (frames 4-29 → 2-26 (neutral), 2-19 (directional)), and due to the altered mechanics, directional air dodges have more landing lag (10 frames → 11-19) and are significantly less effective for wavedashing. Young Link can also no longer use his grab aerial out of an air dodge, hindering his recovery.

Ground attacks

• The increased shieldstun for ground attacks makes Young Link's slightly to moderately safer on shield, especially his tilt attacks (although not his smash attacks due to their increased ending lag).
• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits deal less knockback (10 base/60 scaling → 25/20 base/25/15 scaling), and launch opponents towards Young Link with the farthest hitboxes (361° → 180°), akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect more reliably.
  • The first hit transitions faster into the second hit (frame 10 → 9), which transitions faster into the third hit (frame 11 → 9).
  • All hits have less startup (frame 6 (first hit)/frame 7 (second & third) → 4/6), with the first and second's total duration decreased as well (FAF 20/18 → 18/17).
  • The third hit has greatly increased base knockback (10 → 75/70), and launches at a lower angle much like Link's (361° → 30°), increasing its safety on hit at low percents and allowing it to set up tech-chases.
  • Neutral infinite has a different animation: rather than repeatedly stabbing at different angles, Young Link performs a flurry of slashes.
  • Neutral infinite has faster startup (frame 10 → 6), a shorter gap between hits (7 frames → 2), and deals less knockback (10 base/40/50/60 scaling → 8/15) while gaining a hitstun modifier of 2 on each hit, allowing it to connect much more reliably. Like all neutral infinites since Smash 4, it has also gained a finisher in the form of an ascending slash, making it significantly safer.
  • Neutral infinite has gained a lower hitlag multiplier (0.5×) and SDI multiplier (0.4×), which alongside the changes to DI and SDI from Melee to Ultimate make it much harder to escape from, increasing its reliability for racking up damage.
  • Neutral attack deals less damage (3% → 2% (hit 1), 2% → 1.5% (hit 2), 5% → 3.5% (hit 3), 1% → 0.3% (infinite)).
  • The first three hits have shorter durations (frames 6-8 (hit 1), 7-9 (hit 2), 7-11 (hit 3) → 6-7 (all)).
  • The third hit has more ending lag (FAF 33 → 36), and decreased knockback scaling (100 → 70), causing it to KO later from center stage despite its higher base knockback.
  • Like most neutral attacks from Brawl onward, the full sequence of hits can be unleashed by simply holding the attack button instead of pressing it multiple times. Likewise, the neutral infinite can be looped by holding the button instead of having to mash it.
    • The second hit can transition into the neutral infinite if the attack button is pressed three times in quick succession, with the third hit now being activated by holding it or pressing it at a slower rate. In Melee, it would only transition into the infinite if the button was pressed more than three times.
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 6×. 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 Young Link more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less startup lag (frame 11 → 10).
  • It has more vertical range.
  • It has higher base knockback (5/2 → 30/25), although with its knockback scaling reduced to compensate (100 → 85). This increases its safety on hit at low percents, while keeping its KO ability at high percents.
  • The weaker sourspots have been replaced by sweetspots (12%/11%/10%/10% → 12%/11%/12%), making the move's power more consistent.
  • The sweetspot has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 9-15 → 9-14) and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 32), hindering its combo potential.
  • It has an altered animation, with Young Link slashing in a faster and heavier arc, akin to Link in Brawl and Smash 4.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has much faster startup (frame 14 → 8), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 32 → 26). This makes it safer and more reliable as a combo starter.
  • It has considerably reduced knockback scaling (50 → 25), allowing it to combo for longer.
  • It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 14-16 → 8-9), and less vertical range.
  • It launches at a consistent angle (280°/70° → 80°). While this slightly improves its combo potential, it most notably removes its ability to meteor smash.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 35).
  • It has significantly higher base knockback (10 → 70), increasing its safety on hit at lower percents.
  • It has less sourspots (11%/10%/10%/10% → 11%/10%/11%), making its power more consistent.
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-12 → 8-10).
  • It has lower knockback scaling (100 → 70), reducing its KO ability.
  • It launches at higher angles (361° → 45°/50°/55°).
  • The sweetspot has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
• Forward smash:
  • The first hit has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
  • The second hit's damage output is properly affected by charging.
  • Due to the changes to jostle mechanics, the second hit of forward smash no longer misses when Young Link is extremely close to the opponent, improving its reliability.
  • Both hits have a shorter duration (frames 15-17 → 15-16 (hit 1), 10-13 → 10-11 (hit 2)).
  • The first hit deals less damage (10% → 6%), and no longer has set knockback (40 set/100 scaling → 35/40 base/15 scaling), hindering its reliability at higher percents.
  • The second hit has more startup (frame 10 → 11) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).
  • The second hit launches at a higher angle (361° → 48°) with more base knockback (30 → 43), but less knockback scaling (120 → 115), hindering its KO potential if not used near the edge.
  • The first hit has different angles (75° → 65°/50°).
  • The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.5×).
  • The second hit's two previous sourspots have been merged into one, with its damage being the average of both (11%/9% → 10%).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's first two hits have lower hitlag (0.6×) and SDI multipliers (0.5×), and use weight-independent knockback, which alongside the changes to DI and SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
  • The first two hits have less startup lag and longer durations (frames 11-14/26-28 → 10-14/25-29).
  • The second hit deals more damage (2% → 3%), which alongside the changes to stale-move negation increases the move's total damage (12.1%/11.19% → 14%/13%).
  • The third hit deals much more knockback (70 base/70 scaling → 75/108), allowing it to KO at realistic percents.
  • Up smash has significantly more ending lag (FAF 52 → 70), removing its combo potential.
  • The third hit has more startup lag (frame 40 → 41).
  • The third hit no longer has a late hit that deals more damage (8%/9% → 7%/8%) and is a semi-spike (30° → 100°), removing its edgeguarding potential.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's sourspots deal more damage (7% → 10% (hit 1), 6% → 9% (hit 2)), and thus have increased knockback.
  • The first hit no longer has hitboxes that launch opponents vertically (30°/70°/70°/30° → 30°), improving its consistency in edgeguarding and KOing.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 42 → 50).
  • Both hits have a shorter duration (frames 9-12 → 9-10 (hit 1), 21-23 → 21-22 (hit 2)).
  • The second hit no longer has a hitbox on Young Link's foot, preventing it from hitting opponents in front of him.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have significantly less landing lag (15 frames → 6 (neutral, forward, back), 30 → 14 (up), 50 → 17 (down)) having even less than when L-canceled in Melee.
• The decreased shieldstun for aerial attacks makes Young Link's slightly to moderately less safe on shield compared to their L-canceled versions in Melee, despite their reduced landing lag.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals less damage (12% → 10% (clean), 8% → 5% (late)), with knockback not fully compensated on the clean hit (15 base/100 scaling → 20/108), slightly hindering its KO potential.
    • However, this allows the late hit to combo for longer.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial is no longer a single degrading hit, and instead hits twice like Link's. It deals more damage if both hits connect (12%/11%/9% (clean), 8%/7%/5% (late) → 6% (hit 1), 8%/7% (hit 2); 14%/13% total), and has increased knockback on the second hit (5 base/100 scaling → 45/125), improving its KO potential.
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 47 → 41).
  • It always launches opponents in the direction Young Link is facing, even if they are hit from behind, making it more reliable for edgeguarding.
  • The first hit can lead into combos if Young Link lands before the second hit comes out, which gives him more options to rack up damage or secure a KO.
  • Forward aerial has a much shorter hitbox duration (frames 14-32 → 14-15 (hit 1), 24-25 (hit 2)).
  • It launches at a consistent angle (361° (clean), 76° (late) → 48°).
  • The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's first hit has set knockback (0 base/100 scaling → 50/20 set/100 scaling) and launches at higher angles (361° → 75°/72°/70°), allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • It always launches opponents opposite the direction Young Link is facing, even if hit from the front, making it more reliable for edgeguarding.
  • Both hits have shorter durations (frames 6-9 → 6-8 (hit 1), 18-23 → 18-20 (hit 2)).
  • The first hit deals less damage (7% → 5%).
  • The second hit deals much more knockback (15 base/100 scaling → 40/102), improving its KO potential, but hindering its combo potential.
  • The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has lower knockback scaling (85 → 82), slightly hindering its KO potential.
  • It has smaller hitboxes (4.8u/2.4u → 3.4u/2.6u). Combined with the changes to jostle mechanics, landing an up aerial on a grounded opponent is much more difficult than before.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's early hit deals more damage (14%/16% → 18%).
  • It no longer has a flame hitbox near Young Link's head that deals more damage and is a meteor smash, removing its extreme edgeguarding potential against opponents hit from below.
  • The late hit deals less damage (17%/21% → 15%).
  • The move deals less knockback (40/70 base/100 scaling → 30/83), especially with the late hit due to its decreased damage, significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • It has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
• Grab aerial:
  • Grab aerial has less startup with a longer hitbox duration (frames 11-15 → 9-16).
  • It has significantly less landing lag (30 frames → 8) and no longer causes helplessness, making it much more useful offensively.
  • It launches at a higher angle (361° → 60°) and has gained a hitstun modifier of 4, which alongside its reduced landing lag grants it combo potential even up to high percents.
  • It deals less damage (5% → 4%).
    • However, it deals additional shield damage to compensate (0 → 1).
  • It causes the Hookshot to retract upon hitting an opponent, hindering its utility in battles with multiple opponents.
  • It has more base knockback (40 → 70), but even less knockback scaling (40 → 20), no longer KOing opponents even at 999%.
  • It has a lower hitlag multiplier (0.8×).
  • It is now affected by stale-move negation, reducing its damage output with consecutive uses, but allowing it to refresh other moves.
  • Due to universal changes, grab aerial functions like a tether recovery rather than a wall grapple.
    • This allows it to be shot much faster to ledges if used close enough to them, leaving opponents with a shorter window to edgeguard Young Link.
    • However, this removes its ability to grapple to any wall, reducing its versatility.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Standing and dash grabs have significantly less ending lag (FAF 85 → 53 (standing), FAF 95 → 61 (dash)), leaving them much less punishable if they miss.
  • Both grabs have longer durations (4 frames → 7), and the hitbox on the Hookshot's end now affects aerial opponents.
  • Standing grab has one frame more startup lag (frame 11 → 12).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals more hitlag (4 frames → 13), but has significantly less startup (frame 10 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 26 → 7), shortening its duration.
  • It deals much less damage (3% → 1%).
• Forward and back throw release the opponent faster (frame 16 → 13), although with their total duration unchanged, and the former's first hit is faster (frame 12 → 11). This reduces the time for the opponent to DI them properly, but increases their ending lag.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw launches at a slightly lower angle (55° → 52°), and deals much more knockback (25 base/110 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO under 170% at the edge.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw deals much more knockback (24 base/110 scaling → 45/140), allowing it to KO under 200% at the edge.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw releases the opponent slower (frame 27 → 29) with its total duration unchanged, increasing its combo potential at low percents.
  • It has more base knockback (18 → 30), but less knockback scaling (230 → 210). This further improves its combo potential at low percents (due to its previously lacking hit advantage), but hinders its KO potential at high percents.
  • Young Link jumps a bit higher during up throw.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals much more knockback (60 base/50 scaling → 70/115), drastically hindering its combo potential beyond mid percents. Most notably, it no longer has a guaranteed KO confirm into an up aerial at high percents.
  • Its speed is no longer weight-dependent, further diminishing its combo ability on lightweights, while still being worse on heavyweights due to its increased knockback.
  • Its damage values have been redistributed (2% → 3% (hit 1), 4% → 3% (throw)).
  • It launches opponents at a slightly more horizontal angle (90° → 86°).
• Floor attacks:
  • Floor attacks deal more damage (6% → 7%) and shield damage (1 → 8) per hit, with minimally compensated knockback scaling (50 → 48).
  • Their angles have been altered (361° → 48°).
  • Due to the introduction of tripping in Brawl, Young Link has received a floor attack after tripping.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (8% → 9%) and no longer has set knockback (90 set/100 scaling → 90 base/20 scaling).

Special moves

• Due to the changes to Perfect Shielding, Young Link's projectiles can no longer be reflected back at him by any character.
• The decreased shieldstun for projectiles hinders their safety at close distances.
• Fire Arrow:
  • Fire Bow has been renamed to Fire Arrow.
  • Fire Arrow has one frame less ending lag (FAF 39 → 38).
  • It can be B-reversed.
  • Arrows fly much further, especially when uncharged. This greatly increases Fire Arrow's zoning and pressing ability, making it a more essential part of Young Link's toolkit.
  • Arrows have more knockback scaling (30 → 70), increasing their combo potential despite launching at a slightly lower angle (80° → 78°).
  • They stay active for a shorter period of time.
  • They deal less damage (8%-15% → 4%-12%), and have received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5).
  • The move can no longer be held indefinitely upon reaching full charge, instead firing the arrow automatically if held for more than three seconds.
  • Fire Arrows are ablaze when being charged and fired, compared to Melee where the arrow does not light up at all.
  • Fire Arrows have been redesigned to more closely resemble the artwork found in the manual for Ocarina of Time.
  • Ghost Arrow glitch has been removed.
• Boomerang:
  • Boomerang is bigger, and Young Link throws it vertically instead of horizontally, increasing its coverage immensely.
  • It can be B-reversed.
  • It deals much less damage at point-blank range (16% → 11% (normal), 19% → 13.2% (smash input)), and has received negative shield damage (0 → -5.5 (clean), -3.5 (late), -1 (return)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
    • However, its knockback has not been compensated, improving its combo potential.
  • Boomerang cannot be angled as sharply as in Melee; however, this makes its more useful angles easier to use.
  • Young Link has a new throwing animation for the boomerang.
  • The boomerang superjump and chain dance glitches have been removed.
• Spin Attack (grounded):
  • Grounded Spin Attack has less ending lag (FAF 80 → 71), while its last hit is slower (frame 44 → 49), allowing it to combo reliably into aerial attacks even up to high percents.
  • Its linking hits have set, weight-independent knockback (80/60 base/40 scaling → 55/10 set/100 scaling), and lower hitlag (0.4×) and SDI multipliers (0.5×), which combined with the weakening of SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
  • The last hit has higher base knockback (60 → 71), but lower knockback scaling (100 → 85), and launches at a higher angle (80° → 84°), further improving its combo potential.
  • It can be charged to increase its damage and knockback, as with the other incarnations of Link.
  • Grounded Spin Attack has one frame more startup (frame 8 → 9), and its linking hits have a slightly longer duration (frames 8-43 → 9-45), but a slower rehit rate (3 → 4). As a result, it deals a total of 11 hits instead of 13, reducing its total damage when uncharged despite the changes to stale-move negation (13.74% → 13%).
  • The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.8×).
• Spin Attack (aerial):
  • Aerial Spin Attack has increased vertical distance, preserves much more momentum after being used, and Young Link can drift more in the air during its animation.
  • Like most recovery moves from Brawl onward, it sweetspots the edge much earlier, making it safer to recover with.
  • The multi-hits have a lower SDI multiplier (0.3×), weight-independent knockback, and use the autolink angle (367°), which alongside the changes to DI and SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
  • It deals more total damage due to the changes to stale-move negation (11.19% → 12%).
  • The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (2×).
• Bomb:
  • Like with Link's Bombs in Smash 4, the explosions from Young Link's bombs do not damage him if they hit an opponent.
  • The bombs travel further when thrown.
  • Their multi-hits accumulate much faster, making their damage more consistent.
  • Similarly to Link in Smash 4, Young Link can "soft-toss" his Bombs, which lets him lay them on the floor with a throw without having them explode. This allows Young Link to set traps on the floor to hinder his opponent, and also allows for mindgame potential. Additionally, Young Link can Z-drop Bombs without them exploding much easier than in Melee.
  • Bomb's damage output is lower, even with all hits connecting (13% → 8%).
  • The bomb dash glitch has been removed.
• Young Link now has a Final Smash, that being Triforce Slash. Visually, it resembles Link's version from Smash 4, but it has completely unique animations for attacks, including a shield bash, kicks, and a different finisher in an outward slash.

Update history

Young Link received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed overall. The nerfs to the shield damage of various projectiles in update 3.0.0 affect Young Link more negatively than most other characters. However, update 7.0.0 gave Young Link increased knockback on a few of his attacks, allowing for more KO options.

1.2.0

• Fixed the Invisible Bomb glitch.

3.0.0

• Fire Arrow has received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5).
• Boomerang has received negative shield damage (0 → -5.5 (clean), -3.5 (late), -1 (return)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
• An unknown bug was created where opponents would unexpectedly teleport in any direction upon releasing Boomerang.

3.1.0

• Boomerang teleportation glitch fixed.

4.0.0

• Young Link can now shield SDI if a projectile hits his Deku Shield.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased.
• Neutral attack's first hit has less startup lag (frame 6 → 4), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 20 → 18).
• Up smash has more knockback scaling (100 → 108), improving its KO potential.
• Up aerial has more knockback scaling (77 → 82), slightly improving its KO potential.
• Forward throw deals more knockback (45 base/165 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO at realistic percents.
• Grab aerial has less startup lag (frame 11 → 9).
• Grab aerial launches at a higher angle (38˚ → 60˚), and inflicts 4 additional frames of hitstun, giving it combo potential even up to high percents.

9.0.0

• Rapid jab finisher has transcendent priority, preventing it from being canceled out by weak attacks.

10.1.0

• Aerial Spin Attack has received various adjustments that allow the move to connect more reliably:
  • The first front hit has a new hitbox that outprioritizes the old hitbox and is smaller (size: 6u → 4u) but has similar range (Y-offset: 7.5 → 5.5, Z-offset: 10.5—8.5 → 11.5—7.5), sends at a vertical angle (367° → 80°) and has more set knockback (107 → 110). This sends opponents higher, setting them up for the following hits.
  • The first front hit's pre-existing hitbox no longer sends at an autolink angle (367° → 80°), but has less set knockback (107 → 76).
  • The third front hit no longer sends at an autolink angle (367° → 65°), but has less set knockback (107 → 70).
  • The fourth front hit has a new hitbox that outprioritizes the old hitbox and is smaller (size: 6.5u → 4u), positioned differently (Y-offset: 9.5—8.5 → 9—6, Z-offset: 10.5—8.5 → 5.5—7), sends at a more vertical angle (70° → 74°) and has less set knockback (72 → 60). This sets them up for the final hit.
  • The fourth front hit's pre-existing hitbox sends at an altered angle (70° → 98°) and has less set knockback (72 → 62).

12.0.0

• Up smash's first and second hits deal less fixed knockback (38, 30, 33, 53 → 33, 23, 23, 48). The second hit's hitboxes are also moved slightly further (X: 0.0, 0.0, 5.2, 5.2 → 1.0, 1.0, 6.5, 6.5). This overall improves the move's ability to connect into the third hit.

Moveset

• While Young Link is standing still, walking or crouching, any incoming projectiles that hit his Deku Shield will simply push him back slightly instead of inflicting damage. It can block any amount of projectiles, regardless of their power.
• Young Link can wall jump.
• Young Link possesses a tether attack, grab and recovery.

For a gallery of Young Link's hitboxes, see here.

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Slash (なぎ払い) / Counter Slash (返し) / Stab (突き) / Illusion Slash (幻影斬り) / Illusion Finish (幻影フィニッシュ)	2%	A downward slash, followed by an outward slash, followed by a thrust. If button mashed, Young Link instead performs a rapid flurry of slashes before concluding with an upward slash. The standard neutral attack is based on the final series of strikes that his adult self inflicts to Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
			1.5%
			3.5%
			0.3% (loop), 2.5% (last)
Forward tilt		Bamboo Splitter (からたけわり)	12% (base), 11% (tip)	A lunging downward slash. It resembles the Z-Targeting slash he uses in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It comes out on frame 10 with low ending lag, yet it has good power for its speed, making it a reliable KO option. However, the tip of the sword is a sourspot.
Up tilt		Half-Moon Slash (半月斬り)	8%	An overhead arcing clash. A reliable combo starter that can combo into itself or into Young Link's aerials.
Down tilt		Grass Cutter (草薙ぎ)	10% (base), 9% (middle), 7% (tip)	A kneeling inward slash. It has minimal knockback and launches the opponent vertically, allowing it to easily chain into all of his aerials at almost any percent, allowing for KO confirms into aerial Spin Attack and forward aerial. One of Young Link's best combo tools. It deals more damage closer to the base of the sword.
Dash attack		Splitting Strike (たたき割り)	11% (base), 10% (tip)	A lunging downward slash. It comes out quickly at frame 8 without a large amount of ending lag, and it has decent power, giving it some KO potential at the ledge. Just like his other attacks, the tip of the Kokiri Sword deals less damage.
Forward smash		Sword Slice (スマッシュ斬り, Smash Slice) / Double Sword Slice (二段スマッシュ斬り, Double Smash Slice)	6%	A two-handed, lunging downward slash. If the attack button is pressed again, Young Link will perform a single-handed outward slash. The first hit deals almost no knockback but is a natural combo into the second hit, which deals powerful knockback. Is somewhat fast for a forward smash, coming out on frame 15. Can be comboed into from neutral aerial's late hit and aerial Hookshot.
			12% (base), 10% (tip)
Up smash		Triple Sword Slice (三段斬り)	3% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3 base), 7% (hit 3 tip)	A series of three overhead arcing slashes, the last of which launches opponents vertically. Unlike in Melee, it is no longer capable of creating long juggles due to its increased lag and knockback, although this also makes it significantly more effective as a KO move. The first two slashes trap opponents, with the third hit launching them vertically. Decently powerful, but the move's long duration makes it easy to punish if whiffed. It was buffed in update 7.0.0, and is now a viable KO option due to being noticeably stronger than before.
Down smash		Front and Back Sword Slice (前後足元斬り)	13% (front base), 10% (front tip), 12% (back base), 9% (back tip)	A kneeling inward slash in front of himself, followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself. The move is stronger from the front than from the back, and both hits are semi-spikes, making them good for edgeguarding.
Neutral aerial		Link Kick (リンクキック)	10% (clean), 5% (late)	A flying kick. It is a sex kick and one of the fastest aerials in the game at frame 4, making it a very good option to get opponents off of him. Additionally, it has extremely low landing lag, can autocancel in a short hop, and is just as potent when used offensively, as the late hit can function both as a combo starter or in the middle of a combo to lead into a variety of moves. It also has decent power, as it can KO at high percents when edgeguarding. Overall, it is commonly regarded as one of the best aerials in the game, and is a vital part of Young Link's combo game.
Forward aerial		Spinning Sweep (回転なぎ払い)	6% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2, base), 7% (hit 2, tip)	Two alternating, spinning outward slashes. The first hit traps opponents into the second hit, which deals reasonably high knockback, making it useful for knocking opponents offstage or KOing them outright at higher percents. Landing on the ground after the first hit but before the second will cancel the move, allowing for a follow-up into a different attack. It can autocancel in a full hop.
Back aerial		Double Kick (二段蹴り)	5% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	A hook kick followed by a mid-level roundhouse kick. It comes out on frame 6 and has the same very low ending lag as his neutral and forward aerials. Functions similarly to his forward aerial, including the ability to drag down foes with the first hit, but trades range and power for reduced start-up. Despite this, it possesses a somewhat disjointed hitbox, and its first hit can reliably KO into any of his smash attacks.
Up aerial		Jump Thrust (上突き, Up Thrust)	15% (clean), 12% (late)	The Jump Thrust. It has a long active duration, and its high damage and knockback allow it to KO at around 130% with the clean hit, but despite that, it has very fast start-up at frame 5. However, its long active duration makes it punishable if not used carefully, and it has a strict autocancel window, as it can only autocancel in a double jump.
Down aerial		Downward Thrust (下突き)	18% (clean), 15% (late), 9% (bounce)	The Down Thrust. Unlike Link's similar move, it does not meteor smash even with the clean hit. Deals high knockback, making it one of Young Link's most reliable aerial KO moves, but is dangerous to use offstage due to its long duration and high ending lag. Landing the clean hit on an opponent or their shield will cause Young Link to bounce upwards.
Grab aerial		Midair Hookshot (空中フックショット)	4%	Fires his Hookshot forward. Can be used to grab stage edges and is a very useful spacing option. As of update 7.0.0, it now has above-average hitstun and faster start-up, making it an excellent combo starter at nearly any percent, even allowing for KO confirms into up smash, forward smash, or forward aerial.
Grab		Hookshot (フックショット)	—	Fires his Hookshot forward. It is a tether grab, and thus has higher lag than normal grabs in exchange for much longer range. Has noticeably more ending lag than Toon Link's grabs.
Pummel		Grab Hilt Strike (つかみ柄なぐり)	1%	Hits the opponent with the Kokiri Sword's pommel. Despite its weak power, its hitlag multiplier matches that of other stronger pummels, giving it only average speed. As a result, it is one of the worst pummels in the game.
Forward throw		Kick Off (蹴り飛ばし)	3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	A front kick. As of update 7.0.0, it is one of the strongest forward throws in the game, starting to KO middleweights around 130% from the edge of Final Destination.
Back throw		Back Kick Off (後方蹴り飛ばし)	3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	A back kick. Launches at a high angle, but has low ending lag and relatively low knockback growth, potentially leading into edgeguard setups. It is also capable of KOing around 180% from the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw		Throw Away Slash (投げ捨て斬り)	4% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Tosses the opponent up into the air and performs a spinning upward slash. Has very minimal KO potential, even on platforms, as it starts to KO around 190% on Final Destination. If the initial sword slash hits another opponent, they will be launched at a very low angle, allowing for edgeguard setups. Unlike Link and Toon Link's up throws, it can combo reliably into up aerial at low percents due to his up aerial coming out much faster than theirs.
Down throw		Elbow Strike (ヒジ打ち)	3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Pins the opponent to the ground and performs an elbow drop. A very reliable a combo starter, even in spite of its combo potential being toned down since Melee.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Climbs up the ledge and performs a slash.
Neutral special		Fire Arrow	4%-12%	Wields his Fairy Bow to fire a Fire Arrow. It can be charged up for more power and range. The arrows send opponents at an upwards angle with low knockback and high hitstun, making it a good aerial combo starter. In addition, it has low start-up and ending lag, making it an excellent combo/spacing tool all around.
Side special		Boomerang	11% (close, normal throw), 13.2% (close, smash throw), 7% (far), 2% (return)	Throws his Boomerang forward. It flies forward and then returns to Young Link. On the way forward, it launches enemies vertically with low base knockback, and on the way back, it launches them towards Link with slightly weaker base knockback, allowing it to set up combos. It can be angled up or down, and inputting it like a smash attack increases its damage, as well as the distance it can travel. Like the other Links' Boomerangs, it is slow to throw but is very safe on shield.
Up special		Spin Attack	1%-1.6% (grounded hits 1-10), 3%-4.8% (grounded hit 11), 3% (aerial hit 1), 2% (aerial hits 2-4), 3% (aerial hit 5)	Spins rapidly with the Kokiri Sword outstretched. The grounded version is a series of outward slashes, whereas the aerial version is a series of inward slashes. It has very quick start-up, making it a potent out of shield option. On the ground, it can be charged to inflict more damage. Similarly to Toon Link's version of the move, it hits multiple times on the ground, with the final hit launching opponents. However, Young Link's version of the Spin Attack is different than the variants the other Links have: instead of dealing strong horizontal knockback, Young Link's Spin Attack deals weak vertical knockback, making it unviable as a KO tool but useful as a combo starter. The aerial version can carry opponents to the upper blast line, and KO them there at high enough percents.
Down special		Bomb	2%-2.4% (hits 1-4)	Pulls out a Bomb. Just like in Melee, the explosion from the Bomb hits multiple times. The Bomb explodes after hitting a surface or enemy, or after enough time passes, though it can also be left lying on the ground to run out its fuse as a hazard if lightly dropped a short distance from the ground. The Bomb's weak knockback makes it a useful combo starter. It can be used to extend Young Link's recovery, as the damage from the explosion will take him out of helplessness.
Final Smash		Triforce Slash	1% (trapping), 3% (hits 1-14), 2% (hit 15), 15% (final)	Uses the Triforce of Courage to emit a thin beam of light from his left hand to stun an opponent in front of himself. If the beam comes in contact with an opponent, Link dashes forward and performs a barrage of slashes while they are trapped in a Triforce-shaped energy field before concluding with an outward slash that shatters the energy field and launches them and any bystanders.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	88	2.09 – Initial dash 1.749 – Run	1.26	0.105	0.00375	0.966	0.02 – Base 0.04 – Additional	0.096	1.8 – Base 2.88 – Fast-fall	3	33.66 - Base 16.26 - Short hop	33.66

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

• Korean

On-screen appearance

• Descends from a column of light and unsheathes the Kokiri Sword. This is akin to his older self's on-screen appearance in Smash 64. Based on the end-of-dungeon teleports from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

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  Young Link's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Holds the Kokiri Sword overhead triumphantly in the air.
• Side taunt: Places the Deku Shield on his back and holds out his hand, watching Navi fly around him. The pose of his hand is the same one he makes in one of his artworks from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, only using Navi instead of Tatl. Similar to Link's side taunt from Brawl and Smash 4.
• Down taunt: Sheaths the Kokiri Sword and places the Deku Shield on his back and takes a drink of Lon Lon Milk. Significantly shortened from Melee.

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  Young Link's up taunt.

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  Young Link's side taunt.

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  Young Link's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Looks around himself. Based on one of his idle animations from Ocarina of Time.
• Kicks the toes of his boots on the ground, as if knocking off the dirt. Based on one of his idle animations from Ocarina of Time.

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  Young Link's first idle pose.

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  Young Link's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Young Link!	Lin - Ku!	Link! Bam - biii - no!	Link Link! Jonge Link!	Link enfant!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Jun - ger Link!	Liiiink niño!	Yu - nyy Link!	So - nyeon Lin - gkeu!

Victory poses

• Left: While holding the Kokiri Sword in a reverse grip, he adjusts his belt and flicks his nose. It is based on one of his idle animations in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• Up: Thrusts the Kokiri Sword in front of himself, then brings it near his face before thrusting it upward while giving off a battle cry. It is nearly identical to one of Link's poses, albeit with a different camera angle and Young Link being left-handed.
• Right: Sheathes the Kokiri Sword, dusts his hands off, and then puts them on his hips while grinning.

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:Young Link players (SSBU)

•  Jdizzle - One of the best players in all of Oceania, winning or being the highest-placing Australian player at many Australian events, including winning Battle Arena Melbourne 12 and placing 2nd at Phantom 2020. He is also the most successful Australian player at international events, with several noteworthy performances such as placing 7th at Gen 1.0 and 17th at both Let's Make Big Moves 2022 and Ultimate WANTED 4, in addition to securing wins over players such as KEN at WINNER! 19 and Gackt at both Gen 1.0 and GENESIS 9.
•  Kobe - One of the best Young Link players in North America who was the definitive best in 2021. He is best known for his many great superregional performances that include winning CIRQUE du CFL after defeating Zomba and Kola twice, placing 4th at InfinityCON Tally 2021 and 5th at CEO 2024, and defeating Light at MomoCon 2024. Though less successful at majors, he has still seen several great runs, including placing 13th at Riptide and 17th at Let's Make Big Moves 2022.
•  skittles - First known for being one of the best players in the online metagame, he has since established himself as one of the best Young Link players in the post-pandemic metagame, especially in 2022 where he double-eliminated Zomba twice at back-to-back events Frosty Faustings XIV 2022 and LEVELUP Arena 4, in addition to his runs to 5th at Riptide 2022 and 9th at Rise 'N Grind.
•  Suinoko - The best Young Link player in Japan. In spite of his inconsistency in competitive play, he is the second Young Link player to place top 8 at a major, doing so by placing 7th at Seibugeki 13 defeating Kaninabe, Kome, and Jagaimo, and has also seen some other noteworthy peaks, including placing 13th at Umebura SP 10 and 17th at Kagaribi 9.
•  Supahsemmie - One of the greatest Young Link players of all-time and by far the best Young Link player in Europe. Though best known for eliminating MkLeo at Sunrise 2023, where he ultimately placing 7th, he has also seen a variety of other strong performances throughout Europe, including regularly placing single-digits at or winning Dutch events and placing 5th at Ultimate Fighting Arena 2024 and 9th at both Temple: Hermès Edition and Ultimate WANTED 4.
•  Toast - One of the greatest Young Link players of all-time, mainly due to having the best peaks out of any other Young Link player. He especially was known for his performances during the ill-fated Spring 2020 PGRU season, where he became the first Young Link player to place top 8 a major by defeating Light, Samsora, and Kameme to finish 7th at Frostbite 2020; this remains the only time a Young Link player placed top 8 at a supermajor as well. In addition, he is also the highest-placing Young Link player at a major after placing 3rd at CEO 2022 defeating Sonix and Tweek.

Tier placement and history

Young Link was met with a considerable amount of hype when he returned to the series after 17 years, last appearing in Melee. By the time Ultimate was released, there were high hopes for him due to his amazing combo game and damage-racking potential from his projectiles. Tweek found success with the character in the early months of Ultimate, using Young Link as one of his characters to win tournaments such as Glitch 6 and Frostbite 2019. Players believed that because of these strengths and strong results, Young Link was seen as a viable high-tier or top-tier character, and the best of the three Links.

However, as time went on, players began discovering his weaknesses, which include inconsistent KO power and a linear, slow recovery, making him relatively easy to edgeguard. In addition, most players who used Young Link at a top-player level, including Tweek, used the character as a secondary, and these players eventually phased Young Link out of their character pool. Despite these shortcomings, Young Link's representation in the first year still remained strong at a regional level thanks to buffs received in update 7.0.0 that improved his KO power, as well as the efforts of players such as skittles, Supahsemmie, and Toast, the latter of whom was beginning to pick up steam by the end of 2019, and ultimately saw a top 8 finish at the supermajor Frostbite 2020. These consistently strong results from Young Link players carried over to the post-online metagame, where many Young Link players continued to place well at majors. As a result, despite opinions on the character mellowing out, Young Link was initially still considered a high-tier character, which is reflected in his placement on the first tier list, where he was ranked 29th.

However, the period following the first tier list saw a great decline in Young Link's results due to the lower activity and consistency from most of his North American players. Although Supahsemmie continued to perform well during this period, even defeating MkLeo at Sunrise 2023, his performances were still overall weaker than in previous years. Finally, Suinoko was able to find some success in the early months of 2023, including placing 7th at Seibugeki 13; however, his results remained incredibly inconsistent, and he was rarely able to get anywhere close to that placement. With Young Link's representation on a decline, it correlated with a decline in community opinions on the character as his weaknesses, especially his exploitable recovery and underwhelming range for a swordfighter, became more apparent. As a result, Young Link dropped to 38th on the second tier list, ranking in the B+ tier and marking one of the largest drops between the two tier lists.

Classic Mode: Hyrule Smash!

Young Link's congratulations screen.

Young Link's opponents are all from the Zelda series. Additionally, to go with the theme of the route, all stages, items and assist trophies are from the The Legend of Zelda universe.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Zelda	Hyrule Castle	Hyrule Main Theme
2	Young Link	Temple	Song of Storms	If the player is using the Dark Young Link costume, the CPU player will be the default Young Link.
3	Sheik	Gerudo Valley (Ω form)	Gerudo Valley (Remix)	Items do not appear.
4	Toon Link (x4)	Pirate Ship	The Great Sea / Menu Select	The multicolored Toon Links are a reference to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords sub-series.
5	Ganondorf	Bridge of Eldin (Ω form)	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	Items do not appear.
6	Link	Great Plateau Tower	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bonus Stage
Final	Ganon	Sacred Land	Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Young Link has Termina Field (Remix) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Young Link in World of Light

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

Young Link was one of the many imprisoned fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is a necessary unlock found in the Sacred Land sub-area on the bottom right corner of the land which makes up the Triforce of Courage. The player must rely on the owl statues, which will guide the player to Saria's spirit battle. Unlocking her spirit clears out a tree stump that blocked access to his unlock battle. Once Young Link is unlocked, the Triforce of Courage appears in the center of the map. If Zelda is unlocked, the path leading to Cloud's unlock battle and the Master Sword clears out.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
22		Young Link	Grab	10,300	Temple (Ω form)	Saria's Theme

Spirits

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

Additionally, Young Link makes an appearance in a few primary spirits under other forms.

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  176. Young Link

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  207. Deku Link

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  208. Fierce Deity Link

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
178		Link (The Legend of Zelda)	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Young Link		13,500	Find Mii (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly •The enemy has increased attack power	Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda	Link (Red Ring equipped)
184		Fairy Bottle	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Young Link		3,700	Fountain of Dreams	•Sudden Damage	•All fighters take serious damage •The enemy has increased defense •The enemy starts the battle with a Fairy Bottle	Saria's Theme
194		Kaepora Gaebora	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Young Link		3,700	Distant Planet (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Screen Flip	•The screen will suddenly flip after a little while	Ocarina of Time Medley
212		Happy Mask Salesman	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Young Link		4,300	Umbra Clock Tower	•Attack Power ↑ •Move Speed ↑ •Jump Power ↑	•Timed battle (1:30) •All fighters have increased jump power •All fighters have increased move speed after a little while	Song of Storms
213		Kafei	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Bunny Young Link		4,600	Skyloft	N/A	•Timed battle (1:30) •The enemy tends to avoid conflict	Termina Field (Remix)
235		Ravio	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Bunny Young Link		4,000	Skyloft	N/A	•Timed battle (2:00) •The enemy favors special moves •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Hyrule Main Theme
364		Poppy Bros. Jr.	Kirby Series	•Young Link ×2		1,500	Yoshi's Island	•Item: Bob-omb	•The enemy's down special has increased power •The enemy favors down specials in the air	Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)
876		Cut Man	Mega Man Series	•Young Link ×2 (80 HP)		3,700	Wily Castle (Ω form)	N/A	•The enemy's side special has increased power •Stamina battle •The enemy favors side specials	Cut Man Stage
879		Bomb Man	Mega Man Series	•Young Link ×2 (80 HP)		3,500	Wily Castle (Ω form)	N/A	•The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power •Stamina battle •The enemy favors down specials	Bomb Man Stage
1,127		Diskun	Disk System	•Young Link •Pit •Simon •Samus		9,100	Temple (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Famicom Medley	Link (The Legend of Zelda for the Famicom Disk System)
1,130		Donbe & Hikari	Famicom Mukashibanashi Series	•Young Link •Villager •Falco •Diddy Kong •Duck Hunt		3,500	Duck Hunt (hazards off)	N/A	•Defeat an army of fighters	Shin Onigashima Medley	Donbe
1,145		Prince Richard	Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru	•Young Link		9,900	Dream Land GB	•Temporary Invincibility •Assist Trophy Enemies (Sablé Prince)	•The enemy will occasionally be invincible after a little while •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random •Hostile assist trophies will appear	Kirby Retro Medley (Castle Lololo)
1,280		Tethu	Ever Oasis	•Young Link		3,700	Gerudo Valley (hazards off)	•Flowery •Item: Deku Nut	•You constantly take minor damage •The enemy starts the battle with a Gust Bellows	Struggle Against Chaos
1,282		Musashi	Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido	•Young Link		2,400	Onett	•Item Tidal Wave •Hazard: Heavy Wind	•Dangerously high winds are in effect after a little while •The enemy favors side specials •Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	Gourmet Race (Brawl)

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
189		Young Zelda	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Zelda •Young Link		3,700	Hyrule Castle	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Ocarina of Time Medley	Young Link (Ocarina of Time)
192		Saria	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Isabelle •Young Link		9,900	Garden of Hope	•Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog •The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash	Saria's Theme	Young Link (Ocarina of Time)
211		Tingle	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Villager •Young Link		9,000	Great Bay	•Uncontrollable Speed •Slippery Stage	•Defeat the main fighter to win •All fighters move faster and can't stop quickly after a little while •The enemy loves to taunt	Termina Field (Remix)	Link (Majora's Mask)
218		Dimitri (The Legend of Zelda)	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Yoshi •Young Link		1,700	Great Bay	N/A	•The enemy favors neutral specials	Tal Tal Heights	Link (Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons)
233		Wall-Merged Link	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Mr. Game & Watch •Young Link		3,500	Flat Zone X	N/A	•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Lorule Main Theme	Link (A Link Between Worlds)
236		Hilda (The Legend of Zelda)	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Zelda •Bunny Young Link		9,100	Temple	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Nightmare)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Lorule Main Theme	Ravio
1,319		Professor Riggs & Plaise & Lerna Professor Gerry, Plaise, & Lerna	Nintendo Labo Series	•Dr. Mario •Bayonetta •Tiny Young Link		2,500	Paper Mario	•Attack Power ↑ •Defense ↑	•The enemy has increased defense after a little while •The enemy has increased attack power after a little while	Title Theme - Super Mario Maker	Plaise Allatyme

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Young Link's amiibo.

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  Young Link's fighter card.

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  Young Link's unlock notice.

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

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  Young Link on Great Bay.

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  Tossing his Bomb at Wario on Castle Siege.

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  Idling with Toon Link's Fairy on Skyworld.

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  Drinking Lon Lon Milk with Inkling on Temple.

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  Performing his down aerial in his Dark Link-based costume on the Umbra Clock Tower.

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  Tossing his Boomerang on Onett.

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  Young Link drinking his Lon Lon Milk with Simon on Figure-8 Circuit.

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  Carrying his Bomb with Bomberman on Temple.

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  Idling with Mario on Tomodachi Life.

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  With all playable The Legend of Zelda veterans on the Great Plateau Tower.

Trivia

• Young Link's official artwork is based upon the pose he strikes after using his grounded Spin Attack.
• Young Link and Pichu share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate. This was noted by both of their Super Smash Bros. blog's "Today's Fighter" descriptions.
• Due to Young Link's hair having more physics-based movement, in certain animations such as taking damage, it's possible to see that his sideburns are not fully modeled under his hair.
  • Additionally, the cuffs of his boots are not fully modeled when looking at them from below.
• An animation error is present in Young Link's up tilt; the Kokiri Sword rotates in his hand as he returns to his idle stance.
  • There's another animation error regarding his Hookshot in which the chain disconnects from the Hookshot during his pulling up animation after grabbing a ledge.
  • Additionally, certain animations such as one of his idle animations will cause his arm to clip through his shield.
• When Young Link activates his side taunt where Navi flies around his head, if the game is slowed down to 1/4 speed, she can be seen flying into her initial position from offscreen. This suggests that Navi's model is kept somewhere offscreen and changes location on activation of the taunt; however, when the taunt ends, she returns back into his hat like normal and does not appear to fly back offscreen.
• Young Link, Marth, Lucina, Roy, Chrom, and Wolf are the only characters who use their crouching animation from their previous Smash Bros. game when holding a small item.
  • Out of all of them, Young Link is the only one who doesn't revert to their previous idle pose when holding a small throwable item.
• When performing a wall jump, Young Link does not directly touch the wall before the jump, which is best seen when wall jumping on the Training stage.
• Young Link's Star KO voice clip begins with a short pause, as it did in Melee. He is one of two to have this oddity, the other being Ivysaur.
• In German, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (der Junger Link). He shares this trait with Dark Pit.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Young Link's KO scream is a noticeably higher pitched version of one of his KO screams. He shares this trait with Inkling.