Sheik (SSB4)

Sheik in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Light Arrow
Tier	A (4)

“	Sheik Appears on the Scene!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Her return to the series was announced during a Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8th, 2014. Jun Mizusawa reprises her role as Sheik's voice actor, albeit via recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. She is now completely separated from Zelda, no longer being able to transform mid-match.

Sheik is ranked 4th out of 54 on the tier list, placing her at the top of the A tier and is her best placement in the series. This is a significant improvement over her mid-tier placement in Brawl, where she was ranked 25th out of 38. While not as dominant as Meta Knight in Brawl, the sheer effectiveness of Sheik's moveset saw her almost universally perceived as the best character in the early metagame of SSB4. Sheik's extremely fast frame data grants her an excellent neutral game and a potent combo game, which are supplemented by Needle Storm and her improved grab game, respectively. Her KO potential has also improved: up aerial now consists of multiple hits and concludes with a very strong hit, while her new down special move, Bouncing Fish, deals respectable damage and has high knockback scaling. Lastly, the combination of Sheik's much faster air speed, Bouncing Fish's horizontal travel distance, and the removal of edge-hogging have greatly improved her recovery.

Although she has outstanding strengths, Sheik nevertheless has noticeable weaknesses. Her overall low damage output offsets the very high knockback scaling of her smash attacks and up aerial, which results in her KO potential being unimpressive at best. When coupled with her lack of KO set-ups at high percentages, Sheik is forced to rely on hard reads to properly score a KO. While rage helps alleviate her KO potential, it also hampers her combo game. By extension, Sheik is unable to utilize rage more often than not, owing to her above average height and very light weight collectively rendering her endurance as unimpressive. Lastly, nerfs from game updates have further hindered her by decreasing her already light weight, worsening her forward aerial and grab game's combo potentials, and weakening up aerial and Bouncing Fish's KO potentials.

While Sheik's flaws and nerfs from game patches have resulted in her losing her status as the highest ranked character in SSB4, she is still widely considered to be a very viable character in competitive play.

Attributes

Sheik is a character that, as a ninja of sorts, fits the "hit-and-run" character archetype. One of Sheik's greatest strengths is her overall mobility, being among the best in the game both grounded and aerial, boasting the fifth fastest walking speed, eighth fastest running speed, above average traction, high air speed and air acceleration, and the tenth fastest falling speed. She also has high gravity, which makes her mobility better, but leaves her more vulnerable to vertical knockback. However, she is also the eleventh lightest character; when coupled with her gravity and tall height, these traits collectively make her very susceptible to combos. Her crouch is also very low, making her difficult to hit when doing so. Sheik can also wall cling and crawl.

Aside from her excellent mobility, another of Sheik's greatest strengths is her nearly unrivaled frame data. Her moves have generally negligible amounts of startup and ending lag, making her extremely difficult to punish properly, and this is supplemented by the good range of her moveset. She also has an excellent projectile in Needle Storm, with the needles being fast and long-ranged (covering about half of Final Destination), possessing transcendent priority, and causing hitstun. Coupled with her range, her needles give her a strong camping ability. Overall, her mobility, projectile game, range and frame data all combined form her greatest strength: her outstanding neutral game. She can play both defensively, by pressuring and zoning from afar without much trouble, or aggressively, with her fast attack speed giving her an unpredictable approach. Sheik can poke and pressure her opponents with her aerials and tilts, all of which are safe options. If they choose to drop their shield, they are wide open to these attacks. At the same time, holding one's shield presents her with an opportunity to grab and use her throw set-ups.

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

All aspects of Sheik's moveset are solid overall. A sole few number of her aerial moves possess great versatility; her forward aerial, in particular, has little startup, decent ending lag, auto-cancels in a short hop fast fall, and has slightly disjointed range, making it an all-purpose move: it can be used to approach, pressure, combo and set up edge-guards. Sheik's neutral aerial is her fastest one, allowing her to break out of combos and finish or extend hers, notably into Bouncing Fish. Her up aerial is her strongest one of her aerial moveset, and also sends opponents into a great angle for juggling, both of which give it good utility at both KOing and finishing combos. Her back aerial is her second strongest one, though due to its low damage output, it is overall best suited for edge-guarding and ending a combo. It also has the longest range of Sheik's aerials, and when fast-falled and sweetspotted (at the foot), it is even safer on shield than her forward aerial.

Outside of her Needle Storm, Sheik's special moveset also possesses good utility: her up special, Vanish, grants her invincibility and invisibility, making it hard for the opponent to predict where she will appear. It also has a hitbox on disappearance that is decently strong, and another one and a windbox when she reappears, making it nigh-impossible to punish. Meanwhile, her down special, Bouncing Fish, is famous for being her primary KO move, being similar to Flip Jump on some regards: it deals good damage with high knockback scaling, has KO confirms on it from her neutral aerial (both clean and late), forward aerial and aerial Needle Storm, and is safe on shield if it hits. Both Vanish and Bouncing Fish also conform Sheik's last strength in her recovery, as they make it versatile and extendable, both of them and can be used in tandem with each other, and they are difficult and risky to intercept, as they both deal high knockback enough to interrupt an edge-guard. Combined with her wall jump, this makes Sheik hard to edge-guard or gimp, without disabling her midair jump, and enables her to reverse edge-guard effectively.

However, despite having immense strengths, Sheik still has notable flaws. The most notable of them is her frailty: despite her recovery being amazing, in a similar vein to Fox, her on-stage endurance is fairly weak, succumbing to strong enough blows, whereas her above average height, high falling speed and gravity make her easy to combo. This is further compounded by her poor damage output overall: despite her strong damage racking ability, she requires very long strings of attacks to deal the same amount of damage that super-heavyweight characters such as Bowser and Donkey Kong can inflict in noticeably fewer hits. While the low damage and power on her moves grant her an awesome combo game, Sheik also struggles to secure her opponent's stock. She has a few moves with high knockback, but she has difficulty landing them; her up smash has a powerful first hit on her arms as she rises them, but it is hard to land outside of a read or confirm, and is hampered by its much weaker second hit as she lowers her arms. Her forward and down smashes are among the weakest smash attacks of their kind, and they have punishable ending lag as well. In the air, she is limited to using her up aerial or Bouncing Fish to KO, and even then, they must be relatively close to the blast lines for maximum effectiveness, since her other aerial attacks do not KO until 200% or more, and are otherwise only useful for edge-guarding and gimping characters with particularly weak or linear recoveries. Furthermore, her overall below-average grab game has no throws that can KO reliably, and her aforementioned forward and down throws have too much knockback for truly reliable KO set-ups. With all of this working against her, it is not uncommon for her opponents to survive in excess of 150%. Lastly, the introduction to rage hinders Sheik: without rage, she often has trouble KOing, though as her rage increases, her combo game is slowly hindered, which when combined with her poor damage output, can make bringing an opponent to KO percents difficult. Besides, this also brings opponents to a high level enough of rage to KO Sheik herself with a strong enough move.

Other weaknesses include a few moves that have very low utility, despite Sheik's moveset versatility. These include her down aerial, which is the slowest of her aerial moveset, has the highest landing lag, and is a stall-then-fall, which give it the lowest utility of Sheik's aerial moveset despite it meteor smashing on contact. Her smash attacks are difficult to land overall and, outside of her up smash's sweet spot, have little KO power. Lastly, Burst Grenade has a slow explosion, renders Sheik helpless if performed while airborne, and has only situational usage on edge-guarding predictable recoveries (such as Little Mac) and extending the damage of a hard punish.

Sheik benefits a good amount from her custom moves. Penetrating Needles only shoots three needles instead of six and has less range, but it deals extra shield damage, granting her a new pressuring option. Gravity Grenade loses the suction effect, but the grenade can be thrown much farther and pulls enemies towards Sheik, allowing multiple follow-up opportunities. Pisces, while having a much more shallow flip, removing her forward throw combo, gains more horizontal distance, is faster, has little lag if the follow-up attack is not executed, and is significantly stronger, being able to KO 59% earlier than the default Bouncing Fish. Her other custom moves, like Paralyzing Needle and Abyss, are slightly riskier, yet more rewarding than Needle Storm and Vanish.

All in all, Sheik's strengths outweigh her weaknesses, to the point that she has some of the highest tournament representation of any character in SSB4. By extension, her playerbase includes the likes of Mr. R, VoiD, and Vinnie, who are considered to be among the best players in the world. However, Sheik's nerfs from version 1.1.5 have slightly affected her standings and representation compared to other characters.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sheik has been buffed significantly in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. The partial reversion to some of her attacks and the outright updating of others have restored many of her options that she lost in Brawl, while changes to gameplay mechanics also greatly benefit her restored strengths. For example, Sheik's grab game has regained much of its utility because of synchronization between such changes: her grabs and back throw have less ending lag, which grants the latter combo potential, whereas her forward and down throws greatly benefit from both their altered angles and the changes to hitstun canceling. The removal of chain grabbing also heavily benefits her, as she was previous extremely vulnerable to them.

Sheik's special moveset has also largely improved: Needle Storm has increased knockback and travels faster (although the move has seen various nerfs as well); Vanish's reappearance is safer thanks to it receiving a hitbox alongside its windbox; and her new special moves, Burst Grenade and Bouncing Fish, provide greater utility than Chain and Transform respectively. Sheik also benefits greatly from the changes to pivoting, which improves her grounded mobility, allows her to extend combos with her tilt attacks, and improves Needle Storm's mindgame potential. Although Sheik's KO potential is not as potent as it was in Melee, it has nevertheless improved, thanks to the increased knockback scaling on her smash attacks and up aerial, as well as the additions of Bouncing Fish, the changes to DI, the removal of momentum canceling and the introduction of the rage mechanic.

In addition to her moveset, Sheik mobility has also improved, as her walking, dashing, and most significantly her air speeds are much faster. While her dash speed saw a fairly standard increase to its speed which most returning veterans received, her air speed saw a much higher increase, going from being fairly poor to being very high. It is especially useful in two ways: it now enables her aerial combo game to flow much more fluidly, which is especially evident with her forward aerial's altered properties, and it significantly improves her recovery alongside Bouncing Fish's horizontal travel distance, and the removal of edge-hogging.

However, Sheik also received a few nerfs, some of which are due to gameplay changes. The removal of DACUS significantly weakens her up smash's versatility, while her up smash itself is slower and weaker. Sheik's forward tilt was also considerably nerfed, as it was her most oppressive move in Brawl. Although it is still a very useful combo starter, its combo potential was nevertheless worsened due to its increased knockback and ending lag. On top of this, her already below-average damage output has lowered even further, which forces players to rely on combos to rack up damage before attempting to score a KO. While most characters had their damage output nerfed, Sheik's was reduced even more than most returning veterans. Her overall frame data is also slightly worse, although it still remains among the best in the game.

Despite rage alleviating Sheik's KO potential, it also offsets her combo game at medium to high percentages, and her unimpressive endurance means that she cannot utilize it as consistently or effectively as other characters, while they can easily use rage to kill her even earlier. Combined with the fact that she does not have a powerful ladder combo, kill confirm at low percents, or a move with extremely high set knockback, this makes her one of the characters who benefits the least from rage. Lastly, game updates have nerfed Sheik in certain ways, with update 1.1.5 most notably removing many of her 50/50 KO mix-ups.

Despite these noticeable flaws, Sheik's buffs significantly outweigh her nerfs, and the new mechanics help her much more than they hinder her, since they either alleviate or outright remove the main flaws she had in the previous game, while further increasing her strengths. Because of this, she was regarded by many as the best character in the game, especially after Diddy Kong was nerfed significantly more than her in updates 1.0.6 and 1.0.8. Despite her former dominance, update 1.1.4 added Bayonetta and 1.1.5 nerfed Sheik significantly. As a result, Sheik's results dropped, and she is no longer considered to be the best character in the game, although she is still widely regarded as a top tier.

Aesthetics

• Sheik's design is now combination of her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and her concept artwork for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Her lean musculature and slightly larger eyes are from Ocarina of Time, whereas her attire is from Twilight Princess. The aesthetic used in SSB4 has also resulted in Sheik's color scheme being significantly more vibrant, and her hair being of a significantly higher visual quality than in Brawl.
• Sheik has received four new alternate costumes, one of which is based on her appearance in Ocarina of Time.
• Sheik is slightly more expressive. She now glares during some attacks, and appears alarmed while teetering.
• Sheik has a new idle animation. However, she reverts to her idle animation from Brawl while holding a small item and briefly when transitioning to her idle animation after using a move.
• Sheik has a new victory pose. She now performs her forward tilt and then immediately performs her down smash. It replaces her contemplative victory pose.
• Due to the removal of Transform, Sheik's on-screen appearance has altered visual and sound effects; it now emits a whirl of smoke, rather than a magical sparkle and the Transform sound effect.
• Due to the removal of Chain, Sheik's side taunt's visual effects have changed. Sheik now brandishes the tripwire she uses for her new side special, Burst Grenade.
• Sheik's previously unused damage yells from Brawl's Sound Test are now heard when taking high knockback.

Attributes

• Sheik is lighter (85 → 81), hindering her endurance. While this would also make Sheik less susceptible to combos, her faster falling speed, higher gravity, and the changes to hitstun canceling collectively result in her being more susceptible to combos.
• The removal of chain grabbing significantly improves Sheik's endurance.
• Sheik walks faster (1.3 → 1.4).
• Sheik dashes faster (1.92 → 2.016).
• Sheik's air speed is much faster (0.846 → 1.1), even relative to returning veterans, going from the 10th slowest out of 39 characters to now being tied for the 14th fastest out of 58 characters.
• Sheik's air friction is lower (0.021 → 0.015). This makes her travel further from an aerial grab release, making her less susceptible to followups, but making her take longer to halt her momentum in the air.
• Sheik falls faster (1.58 → 1.75). This improves her vertical endurance, but makes her more susceptible to combos.
• Sheik's gravity is higher (0.1409 → 0.15). This slightly improves her aerial mobility, but slightly hinders her endurance, makes her more susceptible to combos and reduces the height of her jumps.
• Sheik's full hop is higher.
• Item throw is weaker (0.896 → 0.866).
• Sheik's rolls (FAF 32 → 28), air dodge (FAF 50 → 31) and spot dodge (FAF 26 → 25) all have less ending lag. Air dodge also has less startup lag (frame 4 → 2).
• Sheik's rolls (frames 4-19 → 4-15), air dodge (frames 4-29 → 2-25) and spot dodge (frames 2-20 → 2-15) all have a shorter duration.
• Due to the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS' processing power, Sheik is no longer connected to Zelda via Transform or character selection screen input.
  • As transformations took a long time in Brawl, this meant Sheik got a much more reliable down special, which also functions as an attack.
  • However, she can no longer access Zelda's significantly better KO potential and vertical recovery to alleviate her own. It also means she can no longer transform to reset stale move negation.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first hit deals 1% less damage (3% → 2%) and the hitbox on Sheik's left shoulder on both the first and second hit has been removed.
  • Neutral attack's second hit has decreased startup (frame 3 → 2). Neutral infinite is also significantly more difficult to escape from due to the weakening of SDI, despite its SDI multiplier being increased (0.7× → 1×), and it has received a proper finisher, a palm thrust.
  • Neutral infinite deals less damage (2% (near)/1% (far) → 0.8%/0.6%).
• The changes to hitstun canceling and DI improve the combo potential of all of Sheik's tilts into other moves once they cause tumble.
• Forward tilt:
  • The weakening of SDI combined with its higher knockback allows forward tilt to combo into itself more reliably at low percents, despite its SDI multiplier being increased (0.5× → 1×).
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (5% → 4%), has different angles (90°/108° → 84°/86°/78°) and higher knockback scaling (100 → 158/165). It also has increased ending lag (FAF 22 → 25) and a shorter hitbox duration (frames 5-10 → 5-8). Combined with stale-move negation not reducing knockback as much as in Brawl, these changes prevent it from comboing repeatedly into itself starting at medium percents, drastically hindering its damage racking potential and removing its ability to set up into KO moves.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt's first hit has different angles (75°/30°/350° → 0°/330°/75°), which along with the weakening of SDI allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 5-10 (hit 1)/19-24 (hit 2) → 5-8/19-23), smaller hitboxes (5.5u/4u/7u → 4.5u/3.5u/5.5u (hit 1), 5u/6.5u → 4u/5u (hit 2)) and deals less damage (6% (hit 1)/7% (hit 2) → 5%/6%), without full compensation on the second hit's knockback scaling (122 → 125).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 5-8 → 5-6), smaller hitboxes (3.5u/3.8u/5u → 3.2u/3.5u/4.2u) and deals less damage (8% → 5%) with its knockback was compensated (35 (base)/80 (scaling) → 37/110).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals less damage (7% (clean)/5% (late) → 6.5%/4.5%), although its clean hit's knockback was compensated (50 (base)/100 (scaling) → 70/90). Its late hit also has a shorter duration (frames 7-11 → 7-8).
  • Dash attack's clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.3×). This makes it slightly safer on shield, but easier to DI.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has smaller hitboxes (4.5u/4u/5u → 3.2u/3u/4u (hit 1), 6u/4.5u → 4u/3.5u (hit 2)). Its second hit also has a shorter duration (frames 26-28 → 26-27) and deals less damage (9% → 8%).
  • Forward smash's first hit has different angles (24°/361°/60° → 26°/45°/80°) with lower set knockback (69/50 → 62/47), which along with the weakening of SDI allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit. Additionally, the second hit has increased knockback (50 (base)/100 (scaling) → 60/109), improving its KO potential despite its lower damage.
  • Forward smash now uses a stab effect, instead of a normal effect.
  • Forward smash now consists of one hit instead of two when using a battering item.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's first hit has larger hitboxes (5.5u → 6u), allowing it to hit tall characters such as Rosalina more easily on the ground.
  • Up smash deals less damage (17% (hit 1)/12% (hit 2) → 15%/11%) with only its first hit's knockback scaling slightly (but not fully) compensated (82 → 86), hindering its KO potential. Its second hit also has increased startup with a shorter duration (frames 13-15 → 14-15) and she can no longer connect both hits of up smash. Lastly, the removal of DACUS significantly hinders up smash's approach potential.
  • Up smash's first hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.3×). This makes it safer on shield, but easier to DI.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's hitbox timings have been altered (frames 4-8 (hit 1)/15-18 (hit 2)/21-23 (hit 3) → 11-12 (hit 1)/18-19 (hit 2)), increasing its startup dramatically (no longer being one of the fastest down smash in the game) and causing it to deal one less hit. It also deals less damage (13% (hit 1)/10% (hits 2-3) → 3% (hit 1)/6% (hit 2)), has increased ending lag (FAF 49 → 55), smaller hitboxes (4.8u/5.31u → 4u (hit 1)/4.5u (hit 2)), and no longer grants intangibility on Sheik's legs during its first hit frame. Altogether, these changes significantly hinder its safety.
  • Down smash's first hit has gained set knockback (35 (base)/0 (set)/80 (scaling) → 0/35/100) and a different angle (40° → 140°) that enable it to connect at any percent into the second hit, which has higher knockback scaling (80 → 165), making it stronger than the first hit in Brawl.
  • Down smash's second hit has a different angle (50° → 48°).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Clean neutral aerial deals less damage (13% (sweetspot)/10% (sourspot) → 8%/7%) with only a moderate increase to its base knockback (0 → 20). This improves its combo potential, but drastically hinders its KO and edge-guarding potentials. Late neutral aerial also has increased base knockback (0 → 20) improving its edgeguarding potential but hindering its followup potential.
  • Late neutral aerial has smaller hitboxes (4u/3.2u/3u/2.5u → 3.4u/2.7u/1.5u).
  • Neutral aerial has a longer animation (48 frames → 61) increasing the move's ending lag (FAF 49 → 50) and increasing the amount of time Sheik cannot grab a ledge after using the move.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 12 → 11) and has more range due to now having two hitboxes.
  • Forward aerial deals less damage (9% → 4.3% (body)/5% (arm)) with its knockback compensated (0 (base), 108 (scaling) → 40/132) and now has a sourspot that takes priority over the sweetspot. Due to its angle being altered (30° → 50°), it is also no longer a semi-spike. These changes significantly improve its combo potential, but slightly hinder its edge-guarding and KO potential.
  • Forward aerial now also has a slash effect, instead of a normal effect.
  • Forward aerial has a shorter duration (frames 5-8 → 5-7) and slightly smaller hitboxes (5.3u → 5u).
  • Forward aerial's animation has slightly changed: Sheik now lunges farther inward. This new animation is much longer (33 frames → 86) which slightly increases the move's ending lag (FAF 34 → 35) and greatly increases the amount of time Sheik cannot grab a ledge after using the move.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals less damage (12% (clean sweetspot)/11% (clean sourspot)/6% (late) → 8%/7%/5%) without full compensation on knockback (clean: 0/0/5/14 (base) → 30, late: 0/0/4/8 (base)/100 (scaling) → 10/101), significantly hindering its KO and edge-guarding potential. Additionally, it has increased landing lag (10 → 12 frames), and its late hit has a shorter duration (frames 7-17 → 7-14).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial is now a multi-hit move that possesses a loop hit with the autolink angle, instead of a clean hit and late hit, giving it a longer duration (frames 4-6 (clean)/7-15 (late) → 4-15 (loop)/23-24 (last hit)). Its last hit also launches at a higher angle (70° (clean)/60° (late) → 80°) and has higher base knockback (15/10 → 50). This improves its juggling potential, as well as its KO potential near the upper blast line, and allows it to drag opponents down to the ground with its loop hit for additional set-ups.
  • Up aerial has a longer animation (44 frames → 53), increased ending lag (FAF 40 → 44), and auto-cancels later (frame 30 → 47), making it unable to auto-cancel in a short hop. It also deals less damage (11% (clean)/6% (late) → 1% (hits 1-3)/4% (hit 4)), hindering its KO potential when used far from the top blast line, despite its last hit's higher knockback scaling (100 → 135).
  • Up aerial has higher hitlag multipliers (1× → 1.3× (loop)/2× (last hit)), making it safer on shield, but easier to DI. It also has slash and stab effects, instead of a normal effect.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has increased landing lag (26 → 30 frames) and deals less damage (10% → 8%). Additionally, it can no longer be used for momentum canceling.
  • Down aerial now possesses a clean hit and late hit (frames 15-33 → 15-18 (clean)/19-33 (late)), with the former being a meteor smash (70° → 280°), granting it edge-guarding potential. It also has larger hitboxes (5.5u → 5.9u (clean)/5.8u (late)), as well as higher knockback scaling (80 → 90 (clean)/105 (late)), improving its KO potential despite its lower damage. Lastly, it has received a landing hitbox that deals 2% and can be comboed into from the clean hit, allowing it to still deal the same damage as in Brawl if used on-stage.
  • Due to Sheik's faster falling speed/gravity, down aerial descends significantly faster. This allows it to hit opponents below her faster, but significantly hinders its safety while off-stage.
  • Down aerial now has a stab effect, instead of a normal effect.

Throws/other attacks

• Standing and dash grabs have decreased ending lag (FAF 30 → 28 (standing), FAF 40 → 35 (dash)).
• Dash and pivot grabs have increased startup (frame 7 → 8 (dash), frame 8 → 9 (pivot)).
• The changes to aerial grab releases hinder Sheik overall as while it makes her less susceptible to edgeguards (especially when combined with her lower air friction), she also no longer has any guaranteed followups out of a grab release especially with the removal of her DACUS.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals slightly more damage (3% → 3.1%).
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw launches at a higher angle (70° → 72°).
  • The changes to hitstun canceling significantly improve forward throw's combo potentials up to high percents, despite having higher knockback scaling (65 → 79).
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's angle has been altered (80° → 77°).
  • The changes to hitstun canceling significantly improve down throw's combo potentials up to high percents, giving it combo potential at low to mid percents despite having higher knockback scaling (75 → 90).
• Floor attack:
  • Floor attacks deal more damage (6% → 7%) and shield damage (1 → 8) per hit, with minimally compensated knockback scaling (50 → 48).
  • Floor attacks have less ending lag (FAF 50 → 46) and forward floor attack has less startup lag (frame 17 → 14).
  • Floor attacks' angles have been altered (361° → 48°).
  • Front floor attack, has less intangibility (frames 1-26 → 1-23), a shorter duration (frames 17-19 → 14-15 (front), 24-26 → 22-23 (back) and smaller hitboxes.
  • Back floor attack has less intangibility (frames 1-23 → 1-22), smaller hitboxes and the second hit has a shorter duration (frames 21-23 → 21-22).
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack no longer has set knockback (0 (base)/90 (set)/100 (scaling) → 90/0/20). It also has less startup lag (frame 25 → 21) and a bigger hitbox.
  • Edge attack's angle has been altered (361° → 45°).
  • Edge attack deals less damage (8% → 7%), has less intangibility (frames 1-23 → 1-18) and a shorter duration (frames 25-34 → 21-23).

Special moves

• Needle Storm:
  • Needle Storm deals less damage (3% (near)/2% (far) → 1.9%/1.2%). It also takes longer to fully charge (taking 7 windups to fully charge instead of 6), has decreased range as the needles both cover less distance and have smaller hitboxes (2.4u → 1.5u) and Needle Storm has increased ending lag (FAF 41 → 48 (1-5 needles), 54 (6 needles)), hindering its zoning potential. They can also no longer lock opponents due to their altered angle (0° → 60°).
  • Needle Storm has significantly increased knockback (24 (base)/34 (scaling) → 0/180) though it still cannot KO at realistic percentages. They also have an increased hitlag multiplier (0.5x → 0.8x) making them safer on shield but easier to SDI especially with their altered angle.
  • Needle Storm travels significantly faster. The changes to pivoting also improves its spacing potential.
• Burst Grenade:
  • Sheik has a new side special, Burst Grenade. Sheik throws a grenade attached to a tripwire that can be detonated at will. Unlike Chain, it functions similarly to an item-based projectile, as its grenade will become a non-explosive item if Sheik is grabbed or attacked before she can detonate it.
  • Compared to Chain, Burst Grenade's explosion deals more damage (3% (Chain)/5% (tip) → 12.6%) and has significantly more knockback (3/5/10/35 (base)/20/50 (scaling) → 30 (base)/100 (scaling)), making it capable of KOing. Like Chain, it can block incoming projectiles, although only its grenade can do so. Unlike Chain, it has damaging windboxes that pull opponents in, and it does not have a set range, making it significantly more effective at edge-guarding.
  • Compared to Chain, Burst Grenade cannot be freely maneuvered, making it less effective at zoning. It also cannot be used as a tether recovery, and renders Sheik helpless in the air, making it unusable for recovery. Lastly, it is reflectable and its explosion is absorbable.
  • Burst Grenade launches at a higher angle than Chain (361° → 55°). Burst Grenade replaces Chain.
• Vanish:
  • Vanish's disappearing hitbox deals less damage (15% → 12%), although its knockback scaling was compensated (80 → 102). Its explosion is now also absorbable.
  • Vanish's reappearing windbox has received a hitbox that deals 5%, improving its safety.
• Bouncing Fish:
  • Sheik has a new down special, Bouncing Fish. It is a 360° Tengkong Pantui Cepu, a kick used in Nanquan. Unlike Transform, it deals 12% damage with moderate knockback (26 (base)/90 (scaling)), propels Sheik forward and can bounce off walls for additional height, while granting intangibility on frames 3-4. This allows it to be comboed into from several moves even at high percents, KO near edges, escape juggling, and extend Sheik's recovery, giving it significantly more utility.
  • Unlike Transform, Bouncing Fish has significant landing lag, making it more punishable if used close to the ground. It also does not reset stale move negation, and it does not allow her to adapt to different matchups, since it does not switch her into a different character.
• Light Arrow:
  • Light Arrow deals less damage (3% (hit 1)/45% (first opponent)/25% (third opponent) → 1%/44%/24%) and has decreased knockback, slightly hindering its KO potential.

Update history

Much like Diddy Kong, Sheik initially started out as a much stronger character in the early metagame, being one of the strongest characters in earlier versions of the game. As a result, Sheik has been nerfed significantly via game updates. Update 1.0.4 immediately gave Sheik some impactful nerfs, with Sheik receiving considerable power reductions to her forward aerial, up aerial and Bouncing Fish. These moves were some of her most effective KO options, as Sheik had numerous ways to combo into them and they could even lead into KO confirms at high enough percents. Naturally, after their power reductions, the moves became more restrictive as KO confirms. Sheik's forward aerial's power reduction also made it a less potent combo tool at lower percents. In addition to Sheik having weaker KO power, Needle Storm received more ending lag on the ground, which not only made it a riskier camping tool, but also removed its ability to lead into combos and KO confirms. Sheik now had to use the move in the air to land a KO confirm with a Bouncing Fish followup, and as Bouncing Fish became weaker, the KO confirm became less potent overall.

The universal changes in 1.0.4 were not particularly beneficial to Sheik. The removal of LSI for moves which launched between 65°-115° considerably hindered Sheik's endurance, making her easier to combo as well as making her easier to KO vertically. While it did improve the consistency of Sheik's vertical launching combo moves (particularly her throws), it did not benefit her combo game as much as numerous other members of the cast, and some of Sheik's main followups out of her vertical launching moves were weakened (mainly her forward and up aerials). Sheik also had very few vertical KO moves which benefitted from the technique, with her up aerial's power reduction being significant enough to make it a weaker KO move, even though it could no longer be LSIed.

Sheik was also hindered by the removal of DACUS, as she previously had one of the most effective DACUSes in the game. While very difficult to perform, Sheik's up smash was strong, and her DACUS covered a large amount of distance and had the potential to be a KO confirm out of moves such as her neutral aerial and Needle Storm. With DACUS being removed, it significantly hindered the approach potential of Sheik's up smash, and it largely removed the combos and KO confirms she could previously perform with a DACUS.

Update 1.0.6 noticeably decreased Sheik's back aerial's damage, considerably reducing the move's KO potential. From updates 1.1.0 - 1.1.4, Sheik only received a few minor nerfs, with her forward aerial receiving a slightly decrease to its power in 1.1.0, and with Sheik herself becoming slightly lighter in 1.1.4.

Update 1.1.5, however, would give Sheik the most impactful nerfs she had received since 1.0.4. Some minor nerfs Sheik received were that she became noticeably lighter, hindering her endurance and her forward aerial received a range reduction. Sheik's Needle Storm received a significant reduction on its range, which considerably toned down its potentially oppressive camping potential, but the most significant nerfs Sheik received were to her forward and down throws. In earlier versions of the game, the throws were both capable of leading into long lasting 50-50es into potential KOs which were very powerful. In 1.1.5, however, both throws received significantly more knockback, which greatly weakened their 50-50 potential at higher percents, making them considerably less scary at higher percents. Sheik could no longer rely on her throws to lead into potential KOs, instead having to rely more on situational KO confirms, edgeuarding and raw KO moves to take stocks.

Overall, Sheik is significantly worse compared to how she was at the release of the game. Sheik is more fragile, being easier to combo and KO; her defensive game is weaker, having a laggier and shorter range projectile; and her damage racking and KO potential have noticeably decreased, making it significantly harder for her to score KOs, especially compared to the rest of the cast. Despite this, Sheik still remained one of the most potent characters in the game. Her incredible mobility and frame data were near untouched, her recovery remained strong, and while her neutral game was weakened, it still remained among the best out of the entire cast. Sheik's nerfs mainly impacted her punish game, but she still had the tools needed in order to win the neutral game and get her punish game going.

Sheik was very likely the best character in the game in early 3DS versions, and while she did have a negative transition to the Wii U version, receiving impactful nerfs combined with not benefitting from the game's universal changes, she still managed to remain a contender for the best character in the game. As time went on, things looked very good for Sheik, with other top tiers (mainly Diddy Kong) receiving more impactful nerfs than her, firmly making Sheik the best character in the game for a period of time, but by version 1.1.4, Bayonetta was added to the game, who ultimately took Sheik off of her pedestal, and 1.1.5 was ultimately the final nail in the coffin for Sheik, giving her some impactful nerfs which firmly took her out of the discussion for the best character in the game. Despite all the nerfs Sheik received, combined with the shift in the metagame, she still remained one of the strongest characters in the game, being considered as a top 5 or even a top 3 character by the later stages of the game's life.

1.0.4

• Forward aerial deals less damage (6.8% (sweetspot)/6% (sourspot) → 5.5%/4.8%), hindering its KO potential, as well as its combo potential at lower percents.
  • However, this also improves its combo potential at higher percents.
• Up aerial's loop hits hits now function properly, making it hit one less time, dealing less total damage as a result (8% → 7%).
• Up aerial's final hit has less knockback scaling (155 → 138), significantly hindering its KO potential.
• Needle Storm has more ending lag on the ground (FAF 41 → 47), hindering its safety and combo potential.
• Bouncing Fish deals less knockback (30 (base)/100 (scaling) → 26/90), hindering its KO potential.
• Bouncing Fish can no longer be edge-canceled.

1.0.6

• Down tilt deals less damage (7.5% → 5%), with its knockback mostly compensated (35 (base)/80 (scaling) → 37/100).
• Clean back aerial deal less damage (11% (foot)/10% (leg) → 8%/7%), significantly hindering its KO and edgeguarding potential.

1.1.0

• Forward aerial deals less damage (5.5% (far)/4.8% (near) → 5%/4.3%), with its knockback scaling mostly compensated (125 → 132).
• Forward aerial's sourspot now takes priority over its sweetspot.

1.1.1

• Penetrating Needles deal less shield damage (9 (clean)/7 (late) → 6/4.

1.1.4

• Weight slightly decreased: 85 → 84.
• Vanish's disappearance hitbox knockback scaling (104 → 102) and size are slightly decreased (14 → 13).

1.1.5

• Sheik is lighter (84 → 81).
• Sheik's max walk speed with heavy items is slower (0.896 → 0.866).
• Forward throw launches opponent's at a slightly higher angle (70° → 72°).
• Forward throw has more knockback scaling (65 → 79), hindering its combo potential at higher percents.
• Down throw has more knockback scaling (75 → 90) and launches opponents at a slighly lower angle (80° → 77°). This considerably hinders its combo potential at higher percents, notably heavily restricting her 50-50 KO set ups after a down throw.
• The sweetspot of forward aerial was brought closer to Sheik, reducing its range (z-offset: 3.5 → 2.5).
• Needle Storm's needles have a shorter duration (12 frames → 10), reducing their range by one sixth.
• The third hit of down smash has more knockback scaling (155 → 165), improving its KO potential.

Moveset

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Kodachi (小太刀) / Reverse Kodachi (逆小太刀) / Piercing Strikes (連突) / Piercing Strikes Finish (連突終)	2%	An inward knifehand strike, followed by an upward knifehand strike. When button mashed, Sheik performs a barrage of knifehand strikes, followed by a palm thrust. It hits on frame 2 and both of its first two hits can be jab canceled reliably, even at high percents. As a result, it is very useful as a set-up for combos into itself or her tilt attacks, and even into KOs with her smash attacks. Although its infinite's finisher has extremely high knockback scaling to offset its very low damage output, it is still punishable because of its high ending lag.
			3%
			0.8% (near loop), 0.6% (far loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt		Cycle Kick (円弧, Circular Arc)	4%	A roundhouse kick. It hits on frame 5 and has extremely low base knockback, yet high knockback scaling. When coupled with its hitboxes' favorable launching angles, it can easily combo into itself from 0% to very low percents, into Bouncing Fish at low percents, into neutral and forward aerials at low to medium percents, and into up aerial at low to higher percents.
Up tilt		Spindle Tree (真弓)	5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	A stretch kick transitioned into an axe kick. Its first hit has low set knockback, which enables it to be reliably combo into its second hit. Due to its low ending lag, it can be used to either start or continue combos.
Down tilt		Whirlwind (旋風)	5%	A legsweep. Its relatively low knockback and vertical launching angles grant it decent combo potential. The hitboxes on Sheik's leg launch opponents at 70°, which enable it to combo into her neutral or forward aerials. In comparison, the hitbox on her heel launches opponents at 90°, which enables it to combo into up aerial.
Dash attack		Gale (疾風)	6.5% (clean), 4.5% (late)	Lunges to perform two outward fanning knifehand strikes. It hits on frame 5, which ties it with Sonic's dash attack as the fourth fastest in the game. It also has high base knockback and decent knockback scaling. However, its 32 frames of ending lag make it punishable.
Forward smash		Twin Snake (双蛇)	5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	A roundhouse kick followed by a spinning side kick. Each hit moves her forward, while its first hit's low weight-based knockback enables it to combo reliably into the second hit. Although its second hit has an average damage output, its high knockback scaling nevertheless enables it to KO middleweights at 140% from the center of Final Destination. It also has the lowest amount of ending lag out of Sheik's smash attacks. However, its first hit only lasts for 1 frame and can be punished on shield before the second hit comes out, due to its minimal shieldstun and the long gap between them.
Up smash		Razor Wing (割符, Split Mark)	15% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	Raises her arms overhead and then quickly swings them downward to perform outward fanning knifehand strikes. It has two hits, but they do not connect into each other except against tall or large targets at low percents, instead working individually as launching hits. The first hit is located on her fingertips when her hands are overhead and launches opponents at 93°, whereas the second hit is located around her torso during the downswing and launches opponents at 50°. The first hit is both powerful and safe as an anti-air: its respectable damage output enables it to KO middleweights at 104% from ground height, and it grants intangibility to her head and arms on frames 8-15. On the other hand, the second hit's lower damage output results in it KOing middleweights at 162% from center stage. It is also very punishable, owing to its 37 frames of ending lag.
Down smash		Windmill (大車輪, Large Wheel)	3% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	A modified butterfly kick performed from the windmill, a breakdancing move. It hits twice, with its second hit's extremely high knockback scaling enabling it to KOing middleweights at 148% from center stage. However, it is Sheik's least damaging smash attack, and is very punishable because of its 35 frames of ending lag, rather short range, and minimal shieldstun.
Neutral aerial		Falling Leaves (落葉)	8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot)	A flying kick. Due to it hitting on frame 3, it is Sheik's fastest aerial. It is also a sex kick, which makes it good for breaking combos or functioning as an out of shield option. Its clean sweetspot is useful edge-guarding, but can also combo into Bouncing Fish at medium percents. Conversely, its late sweetspot and sourspot are capable of covering Sheik's landing, catching opponents off-guard, and applying pressure against an opponents edge recovery.
Forward aerial		Hatchet (鉈)	5% (sweetspot), 4.3% (sourspot)	A lunging, downward knifehand strike. Its sweetspot is located on her arm, whereas its sourspot is located on her body. Arguably Sheik's most versatile move: it comes out on frame 5 and has low base knockback, very high knockback scaling, minimal ending and landing lag, decent range, and a very generous auto-cancel window. These traits collectively make it useful for approaching when SHFF'd and for edge-guarding, safe on shield when spaced well, and excellent for combos. Combos include into itself, grabs, tilt attacks, neutral aerial, a reverse aerial rushed back aerial, and Bouncing Fish.
Back aerial		Flying Swallow (飛燕)	8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late)	A high-angle back kick. Due to it hitting on frame 4, it is tied with up aerial as Sheik's second fastest aerial. As a result, it is a decent edge-guarding option and can be used from a reverse aerial rush. It also has very high knockback scaling and large hitboxes, but has minimal KO potential because of its meager damage output offsetting its average knockback scaling.
Up aerial		Drill (錐)	1% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	A diagonal, corkscrew flying kick. Due to it hitting on frame 4, it is tied with back aerial as Sheik's second fastest aerial. Its first three hits have the autolink angle against aerial opponents, which allows all of its hits to connect easily. Conversely, its last hit has extremely high knockback scaling, which allows it to KO middleweights at 135% while near the upper blast line and makes it one of Sheik's most viable KOing options.
Down aerial		Butcher Bird Revised (百舌改)	8% (descent), 2% (landing)	A diagonal flying kick. It is a stall-then-fall, and its clean hitbox is a meteor smash during its beginning. Due to it hitting on frame 15, having 52 frames of ending lag upon landing on-stage, and having 30 frames of landing lag, it is Sheik's most punishable move. Its status as a stall-then-fall also makes it extremely unsafe to use off-stage.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out. Sheik's overall grab range is fairly short.
Pummel		Grab Elbow Strike (つかみ肘打)	3.1%	An elbow smash. Moderately slow, but tied with Palutena's pummel as the sixth most damaging in the game.
Forward throw		Shoulder Strike (肩打)	5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	The tie shan kao, a technique used in Bajiquan. Its base knockback and knockback scaling are both average, and it launches opponents at 72°. These traits enable it to combo into neutral, forward, and up aerials and Bouncing Fish from 0% to medium percents, and even into a jump-canceled up smash on heavyweights and fast-fallers at low percents. Although it can combo into Bouncing Fish at high percents, which has respectable KO potential while near the edge, this combo is dependent on DI and only effective without rage.
Back throw		Heel Strike (踵打)	5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Throws opponent behind herself and performs a mid-level side kick. It can potentially combo into neutral, forward, and back aerials at low percents. It can also combo into Bouncing Fish at medium to high percents, which has respectable KO potential while near the edge. However, this combo is risky, as it is heavily dependent on DI.
Up throw		Handstand Strike (倒立打)	3% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	A handstand kick. Due to its high ending lag, it has no guaranteed follow-ups, with only up aerial being a 50-50 KO combo against certain characters at high percents. When coupled with it being Sheik's least damaging throw, it is her overall least useful throw.
Down throw		Guillotine (断頭)	3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	A collar drag takedown followed by a somersault axe kick. It has average base knockback, high knockback scaling, and launches the opponent at 77°. These traits enable it to combo into neutral, forward and back aerials at low to medium percents, and up aerial at low to high percents. It can also lead into Vanish at high percents, which has respectable KO potential while near the upper blast line, although this requires Sheik to successfully read an air dodge from the opponent. Despite having the highest knockback scaling out of her throws, it lacks KO potential because of its throw hitbox's very low damage output.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Kneels and performs a palm thrust in front of herself, and then behind herself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	A kip-up transitioned into a double-footed scorpion kick.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Squats on one leg and performs a spinning roundhouse kick.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Performs a corkscrew dropkick while climbing up.
Neutral special	Default	Needle Storm	1.9% (near), 1.2% (far)	Accumulates up to six needles that can be thrown immediately or stored for later use. When used in the air, Sheik throws the needles downward at approximately 45°. One of Sheik's best options for camping and zoning, as it can nullify approaches and has transcendent priority.
	Custom 1	Penetrating Needles	2.2% (near), 1.6% (far)	The needles deal more damage and shield damage, and have an electric effect. They also pierce multiple opponents. However, it has less range, and Sheik can accumulate a maximum of only three needles.
	Custom 2	Paralyzing Needle	1%	Paralyzes an opponent, with the paralysis duration being longer the more damaged the opponent is. However, it has significant startup, less range, deals less damage, and Sheik can only throw one needle that cannot be stored.
Side special	Default	Burst Grenade	1% (grenade), 1% (pull, 5 hits total), 12.6% (explosion)	Throws a grenade attached to a tripwire. On detonation, it creates a small area that pulls opponents towards it, then explodes. The detonation can be delayed a second by holding the special move button. The grenade can be thrown farther when used in the air or when thrown over an edge, and its explosion is strong enough to KO middleweights at 115% near the edge, making it useful for edge-guarding. If Sheik is attacked before the grenade explodes, the grenade will be detached from the tripwire and become a non-explosive item that anyone can use. However, Sheik will be rendered helpless if it is used in the air and uninterrupted, similarly to Din's Fire.
	Custom 1	Gravity Grenade	3.58%	Launches a grenade that can be stalled longer, and thus launched much farther, and detonates quicker. Upon detonation, the grenade does not pull enemies into it and the explosion is weaker with a smaller radius, but the explosion launches opponents towards Sheik, allowing for multiple follow-up options like gimps or up smash.
	Custom 2	Skimming Grenade	2% (hits 1-3), 4.6% (explosion)	The grenade bounces away from Sheik 1-3 times on the ground, depending on how long the special button is held. Explosion is smaller and weaker, but quicker and the grenade’s hits are stronger and can strike multiple times. Despite what the in-game description states, however, it deals the same damage regardless of how long it takes to explode.
Up special	Default	Vanish	12% (disappearance), 5% (reappearance's hitbox), — (reappearance's windbox)	After a short delay, Sheik destroys a Deku Nut in order to disappear via a small explosion, before reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. Its disappearing hitbox's respectable damage output and very high knockback scaling enable it to KO at 100% while near the upper blast line. It also grants a small vertical boost when used in the air. Conversely, its reappearance hitbox deals much less damage, but also has a windbox that can push away opponents who are very close to wherever Sheik reappears. It grants intangibility on frames 19-53. Reappearing near a edge renders her helpless, though self-destructing with the move is difficult to do because it allows Sheik to grab the edge the moment she enters helplessness. Due to a glitch, holding the control stick in a chosen direction and then using Vanish right after enduring knockback also gives her a boost in the chosen direction.
	Custom 1	Gale	—	Disappears and reappears faster, covers more distance, and grants more momentum. However, it does not deal damage, and its increased momentum means that reappearing near a edge puts her helpless and cannot recover like Vanish.
	Custom 2	Abyss	5% (disappearance), 4% (travel)	The move is a meteor smash and has a hitbox during its travel, rather than only upon disappearance and reappearance. However, along with being weaker, it covers less distance, her travel path is visible, and its disappearance does not grant a short vertical boost when used in the air.
Down special	Default	Bouncing Fish	12%	A 360° Tengkong Pantui Cepu, a kick used in Nanquan. Similar to Flip Jump, Sheik lunges forward and strikes a physical target. If she connects, she will deal damage and automatically backflip a distance away, able to manually kick again. If another target is struck by the kick, she can repeat the process a third time until landing. In addition, Sheik will automatically jump off any walls she touches twice, and can wall jump two further times by manually pressing the special button again. She will experience moderate lag if she lands before the move's animation is over, usually after missing. The first kick can also be executed slightly earlier by pressing the special button again, and all kicks cover more or less horizontal distance depending on which way the control stick is held. If Sheik lands before kicking, usually requiring a leap towards an upward slope, she will instead perform a flip animation with little lag. Overall, the move’s long horizontal travel distance, respectable damage output, and high knockback scaling make it one of Sheik's most viable KOing options. It KOs middleweights at 120% while near the edge, and grants intangibility on frames 3-4. Due to its earliest input hitting on frame 17 and its landing lag, however, it is punishable if it misses.
	Custom 1	Jellyfish	8% (grounded opponents), 10.5% (aerial opponents)	The flip is more vertical, traveling a shorter horizontal distance. Grounded opponents are launched diagonally upwards with set knockback in order to ensure that the opponent can be hit the second time, said kick being significantly more powerful on aerial opponents. However, she cannot kick a third time, and can only walljump three times (latter one is manual).
	Custom 2	Pisces	15.5%	The flip is faster and more shallow, which requires pressing the attack button in order to kick if the attack is used while standing on level ground. But there is even more landing lag, making ground kicks riskier. If the kick hits, Sheik will flip forward and launch opponents backward while dealing more knockback, which enables it to KO at 106% from center stage. However, she has less manual control over horizontal movement, it can only kick once before landing on the ground, and she cannot walljump (upon contact, she will bounce up slightly and uncontrollably fall in place for a second).
Final Smash		Light Arrow	1% (hit 1), 44% (first opponent), 33% (second opponent), 24% (third opponent), 19% (fourth opponent), 14% (fifth opponent) 11% (sixth opponent), 6% (seventh opponent)	Wields Zelda's Bow and fires a Light Arrow forward. It can strike multiple opponents, but its damage output decreases for each successive target. Unlike Zelda's Light Arrow, it deals slightly more damage and is a semi-spike, yet has less knockback. Like Zelda's, it is one of the strongest Final Smashes in the game, as it is capable KOing middleweights at 58% while near the edge.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	81	1.7 – Initial dash 2.016 – Run	1.4	0.06	0.015	1.1	0.01 – Base 0.08 – Additional	0.15	1.75 – Base 2.8 – Fast-fall	4	39 - Base 18.752533 - Short hop	40

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Appears from a Deku Nut's explosion while briefly emanating blue wisps.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Performs the pike, a breakdancing move.
• Side taunt: Brandishes the tripwire she uses for Burst Grenade.
• Down taunt: A modified version of the age uke, a blocking technique in Japanese martial arts.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

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

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Sheik!	Shei-k!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

An orchestral remix of Get Triforce Fanfare, 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.

• Throws two needles, similarly to Needle Storm, and then stands up while rearing back her right hand up to her face.
• Uses her forward tilt and then immediately uses her down smash.
• Performs the fumikomi, a stomp-style kick in karate, followed by a mid-level side kick, and then exhales loudly before performing the tate shuto uke, a blocking technique in Shotokan.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Sheik	2211	2111	1211	2311	1311
	1213	3213	2212	2312	2231

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Sheik players (SSB4)

•  Eim - One of the best Sheik players in Japan, especially towards the end of the game's competitive lifespan. He is one of two Sheik players to have won a major following Sheik's nerfs, winning Umebura Smash 4 Final.
•  False - Co-mained Sheik with Marth and was one of the best Sheik players on the United States East Coast, placing 7th at CEO 2016 and 9th at EVO 2017.
•  Javi - The second-best player from Mexico, with notable singles placements including 9th at 2GGC: GENESIS Saga and 17th at GENESIS 5. With his cousin MkLeo, they were also considered the best doubles team in the world.
•  K9sbruce - The best Sheik player from the United States West Coast, co-maining her alongside Diddy Kong and placing 7th at Shots Fired 2 and 9th at DreamHack Austin 2017 and GENESIS 5.
•  Mr.R - One of the best solo-Sheik players of all time, as well as the best European player of all-time, regularly ranking in the top 10 globally. Although he never won a major, he finished 2nd at many of them, including at EVO 2015 and 2GG: Hyrule Saga.
•  Nietono - One of the best Sheik players in Japan, co-maining her alongside Diddy Kong. He is the only Japanese Sheik player who placed top 8 at multiple majors, placing 3rd at EVO 2018, 4th at EVO Japan 2018, and 5th at both Apex 2015 and Umebura Japan Major 2017.
•  RAIN - The best Sheik player in Japan during the early metagame, notably placing 9th at EVO 2015 and Umebura Niconico Qualifier. He dropped Sheik in favor of Cloud in mid-2016.
•  Vinnie - One of the best Sheik players in the United States, co-maining her alongside Rosalina & Luma. He was one of the first people to defeat ZeRo, doing so at PAX Prime 2015 while placing 2nd. He has also placed 5th at The Big House 5 and 9th at both EVO 2016 and DreamHack Atlanta 2017.
•  VoiD - One of the best solo-Sheik players of all-time, regularly ranking in the top 10 globally. He is one of two Sheik players to have won a major following Sheik's nerfs, winning Smash 'N' Splash 4.
•  ZeRo - The all-time best player in the world, co-maining Sheik alongside Diddy Kong for the first few years of the game's competitive lifespan, most notably using her during his 56-consecutive-tournament-win streak.

Tier placement and history

Sheik had always been perceived as a top-tier character since the game's release, which was eventually reflected in her ranking at the very top of the first official 4BR tier list, with the previous nerfs to Rosalina & Luma and Diddy Kong paving the way for Sheik to be considered the near-indisputable best character in the game. Players noticed her fantastic frame data, the ability to control the neutral game by spacing effectively with her forward aerial and camp with Needle Storm, extensive combo game that allowed her to rack up damage quickly and efficiently, dominant offstage game, and reliable KO set-ups off of low-committal grab set-ups. This led most players to believe she lacked losing match-ups and had only a handful that were arguably even. As expected, Sheik's position was cemented by a stellar playerbase that included highly talented players such as ZeRo, Mr.R, VoiD, K9sbruce and RAIN, among others, all of whom achieved great results with the character on a consistent basis.

However, Sheik's overwhelming dominance took a blow with patches 1.1.4 and 1.1.5, which removed her most reliable KO set-ups, worsened her survivability, and weakened her camping ability. As a result, her most notable player, ZeRo, eventually dropped her, and others such as K9sbruce started using secondaries more often. Despite her heavy nerfs, Sheik's neutral, combo, and offstage games are still among the best, allowing her to continue to gain strong results from players such as VoiD and Mr.R and remain a top-tier character, placing at 3rd on the second tier list and 4th on the third and fourth tier lists. However, the 4th tier list notably had Sheik drop into the A-tier due to her worse results compared to the top 3 at the time of the tier list's release.

2018 saw a new breath of fresh air for Sheik as dedicated mains managed to improve her results, including Nietono's run to 3rd at EVO 2018, Mr.R's run to 2nd at 2GG: Hyrule Saga, and most notably VoiD's victory at Smash 'N' Splash 4 and Eim's victory at Umebura Smash 4 Final, which were the only two major victories for a Sheik player since her nerfs. Sheik's improving results were notably more impressive than those of Diddy Kong and Cloud, two characters generally agreed upon to be better than her, but by then, were not getting as far in-tournament without the use of a secondary. As a result, Sheik's true placement became debatable, with some top players such as MkLeo and Mr.R believing that she should be ranked slightly higher.

In Solo Modes

All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Sheik is fought in Stage 5 in the 3DS version or Stage 3 in the Wii U version.

Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Melee: Sheik is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents debuted in Melee.
• Aura Mastery: As Lucario,the player must defeat an invisible Sheik and an invisible Wii Fit Trainer.
• Identity Crisis: Sheik must defeat Samus. After defeating her, the player must then defeat Zero Suit Samus. If Sheik gets knocked out, then Zelda will appear.

Co-op Events

• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Congratulations screens

3DS

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  Classic Mode

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  All-Star Mode

Wii U

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  Classic Mode

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  All-Star Mode

Trophies

Sheik's default trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode as Sheik. Her alternate trophy is obtained by clearing All-Star Mode as Sheik in the 3DS version or purchasing it in the Trophy Shop for 1000G in the Wii U version. The Light Arrow (Sheik) trophy is obtained only in the Wii U version by clearing All-Star Mode as Sheik.

3DS Classic Mode trophy

Wii U Classic Mode trophy

Sheik

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

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Sheik claimed to be a surviving Sheikah. However, this was just a cunning disguise used by—SPOILER ALERT!—Princess Zelda so she could hide from Ganondorf. In Smash Bros., she's the complete opposite of Zelda, striking with fast attacks that can unbalance her foes.

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

3DS All-Star Mode trophy

Wii U alternate trophy

Sheik (Alt.)

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

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

Light Arrow (Sheik) trophy

Light Arrow (Sheik)

Sheik's Final Smash uses a gigantic bow to fire a Light Arrow across the screen. If multiple foes are in its path, it will strike them all, ignoring shields like they're not even there. Sheik's Light Arrow is more damaging than Zelda's, and it launches its victims at a lower angle.

Sheik's Final Smash uses a gigantic bow to fire a Light Arrow across the screen. If multiple foes are in its path, it will strike them all, even penetrating straight through their shields. Sheik's Light Arrow is more powerful than Zelda's and launches its targets at a more shallow angle.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Sheik's splash art.

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  Sheik's amiibo.

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  Sidestepping.

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  Jumping.

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  Using her back aerial alongside Samus's downward angled forward smash.

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  Using Burst Grenade, her new side special.

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  Using her neutral aerial on Luigi and alongside Link's neutral aerial.

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  A close-up of Sheik's face.

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  Alongside a fairy.

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  A pose.

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Preparing to use her up smash.

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  Charging Needle Storm midair.

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  Using her down smash on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.

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  Using her up taunt alongside Wii Fit Trainer and Greninja.

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  Using her neutral aerial against Little Mac's Straight Lunge.

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  Charging Needle Storm.

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  Using Bouncing Fish, her new down special, on Mario.

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  Using her down taunt after using Burst Grenade on Luigi.

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Using her forward aerial on Samus.

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  Using Bouncing Fish on Mega Man alongside Wii Fit Trainer's back aerial.

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  Using her edge attack on Marth.

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  Jumping.

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  Jumping alongside Greninja.

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  Jumping alongside Little Mac's Jolt Haymaker.

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  Using her down aerial against Toon Link's forward aerial.

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  Using her down taunt.

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  Using her neutral attack against Little Mac's neutral attack.

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  Tripping on a Banana Peel.

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  Sidestepping alongside Toon Link.

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  Dashing alongside Little Mac while Marth looks on.

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  Preparing to use Vanish.

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  Using her side taunt.

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  Alongside Olimar.

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  Preparing to use Burst Grenade while Toon Link holds a Bomb.

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  Using her up taunt alongside the male and female Wii Fit Trainers.

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  Alongside Olimar as he uses Winged Pikmin.

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  In the air.

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  Sheik in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Alongside Yoshi.

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  Alongside Charizard.

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  Using her forward tilt on Lucario.

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  Using her neutral attack on Little Mac.

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  Charging Needle Storm.

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  Using her neutral aerial.

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  Jumping while Mario and Luigi use their Fireballs.

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  Alongside Yoshi.

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  Using Burst Grenade.

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  Jumping.

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  Above the shark in the Tortimer Island stage.

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  Alongside Zelda.

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  Charging Needle Storm alongside Mario, Samus, and Donkey Kong.

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  In the air.

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  Jumping above Olimar.

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  Using her neutral aerial.

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  Alongside Pikachu while it uses its down taunt.

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  Alongside Toon Link.

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  Using her down tilt alongside Charizard and Pikachu.

Trivia

• Sheik is the first and currently only character to have their weight changed twice via updates.
• Much like Zelda, due to her retaining the scrapped Twilight Princess-inspired design, this marks the only time Sheik reuses her design from a previous game.
• This marks the final appearance of Jun Mizusawa as Sheik, who had voiced both her and Zelda since Melee.
• Originally, Sheik was still going to turn into Zelda in this game and vice versa, but the two characters were split apart instead due to the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS. A similar issue was also the case for Samus and Zero Suit Samus when their Final Smash was concerned, and Pokémon Trainer, who was dropped in favor of his Charizard operating on its own.
• This is the only game since Sheik's debut in Melee where her canonical design is not directly referenced in the game at all.
• Sheik's Alt. trophy in the Nintendo 3DS version features blond eyebrows, whereas the alternate costume it's based on has gray eyebrows. Her headwear and scarf are also noticeably lighter in the trophy.