Sheik (SSB4)

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

“	Sheik Appears on the Scene!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was confirmed during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8th, 2014, a day before the Australian releases of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Sheik is once again voiced by Jun Mizusawa (who also voices Zelda), via recycled voice clips from Brawl.

Attributes

Sheik falls under the archetype of "quick and weak", though she has a few strong KO moves. Her biggest strength is her blinding frame data: most of her attacks have almost no startup or endlag, making many options very safe in the neutral and giving her a powerful comboing ability, and making her the hardest character in the game to punish. She also has among the best recoveries in the game despite her fast falling speed and only average air speed, as her double jump has decent height, Vanish can go in any direction and only has one frame to edgeguard (it is also one of her strongest attacks), and Bouncing Fish has very high base knockback and goes very far horizontally. Her fast aerials (three of which are near lagless) and fast, transcendent, and long-ranged Needle Storm also gives her among the best camping abilities in the game. As explained above, despite Sheik's speed, she has some very powerful KO moves, such as her sweetspotted up smash, up aerial, and Vanish's explosion.

Despite being among the best in almost every way, Sheik still has her flaws. Sheik, despite her good comboing ability, has a poor damage output, requiring very long strings of attacks to deal the same amount of damage characters such as Bowser and Donkey Kong can inflict in fewer hits. She also has a high short hop which may make SHFFing less effective, but still can only perform a single aerial in a short hop. Additionally, the introduction to rage hinders Sheik: without rage, she has trouble KOing outside of the mentioned attacks (and those are difficult to hit with in the first place) and with rage, her comboing ability is hindered, which when combined with her bad damage output can make bringing the opponent to KO percents difficult.

Despite this, Sheik's strengths significantly overpower her flaws. Due to these advantages, she has arguably the most tournament representation of any character in Smash 4, and is considered to be the most dominant character in the metagame (particularly after patch 1.0.6, which heavily nerfed Diddy Kong, who was arguably Sheik's most troublesome matchup prior to the patch). Despite having been slightly nerfed in patches, the changes have not been severe enough to affect Sheik's representation and viability.

Sheik does benefit from her custom moves though. Penetrating Needles only shoots three needles instead of six and has less range, but it deals extra shield damage. Gravity Grenade loses the suction effect, but the grenade can be thrown much farther and pulls enemies towards Sheik allowing multiple options such as an up smash.

Changes from Brawl

Sheik has been significantly buffed from Brawl, which has allowed her to become a dominant character in competitive play like she was in Melee. Many of her attacks have been partially reverted or changed, giving Sheik many options back that she lost in Brawl. Few of her moves (Needle Storm, forward aerial, and her new down special, Bouncing Fish), give Sheik a better neutral game. However, she has suffered from a few nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4'. Her recovery was noticeably weakened, losing her Chain as a tether recovery. She has also lost the ability to utilize Zelda's superior up special, and when combined with her faster falling speed, she now has a harder time getting back on stage. However, the loss of Farore's Wind is somewhat compensated by Sheik's new down special, Bouncing Fish, giving her a recovery mixup options. She also lost her DACUS technique, which she relied on in the previous installment. On top of this, her already weak attacks deal even less damage, which forces players to rely on combos to rack up damage. The lack of many strong finishing moves also means that opponents must be at very high percentages for Sheik to reliably KO. On top of this, the new rage mechanic also hurts her comboing ability while at mid-high percentages. As a result, Sheik has a extremely high technical learning curve, requiring precisions with using her aerial and tilts correctly, patience, quick reflex, and landing her KO moves efficiently.

Despite these noticeable flaws, she has gained many notable and useful buffs from Brawl such as her ability to combo and the addition of her new down special. Sheik is a dominant force in the metagame with many early high-placing tournament results on the national and international level, and she's regarded by many as the best character in the game. Sheik has also been nerfed in several game patches, but so far, none of these nerfs have significantly affected her viability. Similar to Diddy Kong prior to the 1.0.6 update, some players argue that Sheik is an excessively dominating character (particularly at high levels of play), despite her being overshadowed by Diddy and having a troublesome matchup against him prior to his nerfs.

Aesthetics

• Sheik retains the Twilight Princess-inspired design she had in Brawl, but now with a noticeably brighter color scheme due to the more vibrant aesthetics in SSB4. However, she appears to be more muscular than her appearance in Brawl. This gives her a body type closer to her the one she has Ocarina of Time, which was more masculine in appearance compared to the physique she has in her Twilight Princess concept art.
• Sheik has a new standing idle animation.
• Sheik has two new idle poses.

Attributes

• Sheik's air speed is much higher (0.846 to 1.1).
• Sheik walks faster (1.3 to 1.4).
• Sheik dashes slightly faster (1.92 to 2.016).
• Sheik falls faster (1.58 → 1.75).
• Sheik can no longer transform into Zelda.
• Since Sheik can no longer transform into Zelda, she can no longer use Zelda's Farore's Wind as a reliable recovery move.
• Sheik can no longer do a two-hit forward smash with battering items, nor can she fire two stars at once with the Star Rod.

Ground attacks

• Neutral infinite now transitions into a finisher.
• All tilts (except neutral and sourspotted dash attack) deal less damage (forward tilt 5% → 4%, up tilt 13% → 11%, down tilt 8% → 5%, and dash attack (sweetspotted) 7% → 6%). However, all tilt's knockback (except up tilt) are compensated.
• Up tilt has less ending lag allowing more followups.
• Since up tilt deals 2% less damage, this makes it weaker despite its slightly increased knockback growth (122 → 125).
• Down tilt can now more reliably follow into other attacks at lower percentages.
• All smashes deal less damage (forward smash 14% → 13%, up smash 17/12 → 15/11%, down smash 13/10/10 → 3/6%).
• The second hit of forward smash had its knockback increased again (50 base/100 growth → 60 base/109 growth).
• Up smash knockback on the sweetspot slightly increased knockback growth (82 → 86).
• Due to the removal of DACUS, her up smash is a more situational attack.
• Down smash has worse hitbox placement, more endlag and deals less knockback. Only the last hit has KO power (knockback mostly compensated however).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials (except neutral aerial's sourspot) deal less damage (nair 13/10 → 8/7%, fair 9% → 5/4.3%, bair 11/10 → 8/7%, uair 11% → 7%, and dair 10% → 8%).
• Forward aerial angle changed from 30 to 50 degrees making it a less reliable semi-spike.
• Forward aerial has a new animation, and is much faster and links into follow-up options very reliably at almost any percentage below around 100%.
• Up aerial is now a multi-hit attack that is stronger and can reliably KO under 130% in the air.
• Back aerial was initially the same as in previous games, but has been nerfed in previous patches; it now deals 8% and has low KO potential, making it less effective as an edgeguarding tool.
• Down aerial is now a meteor smash. It also leads into a second hit on grounded opponents.
• Down aerial falls much faster which gives it less time to act out of it and can cause self destructs.

Throws/other attacks

• Forward throw is faster and sends opponents at a slightly higher trajectory (70 degrees), now reliably setting up a forward aerial at any percentage below around 150%.
• Back throw has less ending lag, allowing more followups.
• Down throw's trajectory has been reverted to how it functioned in Melee (80 degrees). While it deals much more knockback than in Melee, it still gives Sheik several follow-up options.

Special moves

• Needle Storm does knockback, this allows her to safely use it for controlling space. It can also be pivoted on the ground.
• Needle Storm does less damage and takes slightly longer to fully charge.
• Burst Grenade appears similar to the previous side special of Chain, except that the chain now has an explosive on the end instead of dealing damage itself. Her side taunt has changed to reflect this, where she pulls out the string from Burst Grenade as opposed to her Chain.
• Due to Burst Grenade's function, and its property of leaving Sheik helpless in the air after usage, Sheik cannot use this move as a tether recovery.
• Vanish now has a hitbox when Sheik appears.
• Many explosion moves can now be absorbed; this includes both blasts of Vanish.
• Bouncing Fish is her new down special move. It is an acrobatic kick attack similar to Zero Suit Samus' down special, but covers much more horizontal range. It has extremely high base knockback and is a reliable KO move at high percents, and aids greatly in Sheik's previously mediocre recovery by providing a great deal of horizontal distance without leaving her helpless.
• Light Arrow deals overall less damage and has weaker knockback.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Two quick knifehand strikes followed by a barrage of knifehand thrusts followed by a palm thrust. The palm thrust has somewhat weak knockback.
			3%
			0.6% far or 0.8% close (infinite), 3% (last hit)
Forward tilt			4%	Sheik performs a roundhouse kick knocking the opponent into the air with low knockback. Easily combos into itself and other moves.
Up tilt			5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Sheik performs a modified axe kick. Can hit on the upswing and downswing.
Down tilt			5%	Sheik performs a legsweep. Can be immediately followed by her neutral air or forward air due to it popping the opponent upward.
Dash attack			6.5% (clean), 4.5% (late)	A slashing knifehand strike. Has decent knockback.
Forward smash			5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	Two crescent kicks that moves her forward as they are executed. The first has low knockback, while the second has significant knockback. Can KO at high percentages.
Up smash			15% (sweetspot); 11% (sourspot)	Sheik raises her arms over her head and quickly brings them down to her sides to perform outward fanning knifehand strikes. The sweetspot is on her fingertips during the beginning of the move while the sourspot in on the the downswing.
Down smash			3% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Performs a windmill, a breakdancing technique, while kicking the opponent. Can hit twice.
Neutral aerial			8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot)	Sheik performs a flying kick. A typical sex kick, it is her fastest aerial (comes out in frame 3), is capable of breaking combos and functions as a great out of shield option. The strong hit of her neutral air can combo into Bouncing Fish at middle percents. Its lingering hitbox is capable of covering Sheik's landing, catching opponents off-guard, and applying pressure against opponents that are attempting to aim their recovery to the ledge.
Forward aerial			5.5% (arm), 4.8% (body)	Sheik leans forward and quickly forms a downward knifehand strike. Sheik's primary approach options. It is her best moves for edge guarding and a KO options near the side of the stage at 160%. Can be autocanceled easily out of SHFF. When well spaced with SHFF, it is safe on shield. Has good knockback and can combo into itself, neutral air, reverse-aerial-rush back air, and even bouncing fish depending on percent and positioning.
Back aerial			8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late)	Sheik performs a back kick. It has weak knockback, but with large hitboxes. Can be used with RAR and is good for edge guarding.
Up aerial			1% (loop hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	Sheik inverts herself and performs a corkscrewing kick. The first three hits have the auto-link angle against aerial opponents, which allows all four hits to connect easily. The final hit has strong knockback and is a solid KO move at moderate damage percentages, depending on rage. It can combo out of down throw.
Down aerial			8% (descent), 2% (landing)	Sheik performs a flying kick downward. A stall-then-fall, it can meteor smash during the beginning, but it is hard to recover from because of the fast descent.
Grab			—
Pummel			3.1%	Hits opponent with her arm.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Punches the opponent forward. At moderate damage it can be comboed into bouncing fish.
Back throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Throws opponent behind and back kicks them away.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Sheik performs a kip-up and kicks the opponent into the air. Due to it having high base knockback with little growth, it makes combos difficult.
Down throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Throws opponent on the ground, then performs an axe kick knocking the opponent up into the air. Can combo into forward aerial, back aerial, neutral aerial, and up aerial, depending on opponent's DI. At 110-140%, she can follow up into her KO moves. Since the opponent is sent upward in 80 degrees angle, its leaves the opponent in a difficult position in which they have two options: jump away or air dodge. Every option the opponent has is risky and can lead into up aerial against opponents that attempted to jump away or Vanish against opponents that attempted to air dodge.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Sheik kneels then punches forwards and backwards.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Sheik kicks her feet over her head.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Sheik pulls herself up and kicks both legs forward along the ground.
Neutral special	Default	Needle Storm	1.9% (near) or 1.2% (far) per needle, 6 needles max	Sheik accumulates up to six needles that can be stored and released immediately or later. If thrown in the air, the needles travel at approximately a 45 degree angle.
	Custom 1	Penetrating Needles	2.2% (near) or 1.6% (far) per needle, 3 needles max	Needles travel through multiple opponents with electric effect. Travels a shorter distance and can only be charged to three needles. Deals extra damage to shields. Less range than normal.
	Custom 2	Paralyzing Needle	1%	A single needle that can stun an opponent. Has significant ending lag. The higher the opponents damage, the longer they are stunned. Less range than normal.
Side special	Default	Burst Grenade	1% (hit), 1% (pull), 12% (explosion)	Sheik throws a grenade on a string. 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 attack button. Grenade can be thrown a further distance when Sheik is in the air or when thrown over an edge. If Sheik is hit before it explodes it becomes an item where it was
	Custom 1	Gravity Grenade	3.58%	Upon detonation, the grenade does not pull enemies into it, but the explosion knocks opponents towards Sheik. This allows for numerous options like gimps or an up smash. The explosion is smaller.
	Custom 2	Skimming Grenade	2% (hits 1-3), 4.6% (explosion)	The grenade bounces on the ground with a time delay before exploding. The longer it takes to explode, the weaker it is.
Up special	Default	Vanish	12% (vanish), 5% (reappear)	After a short delay, Sheik vanishes in a puff of smoke, reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. The vanish hitbox has high knockback, able to KO at high percentages. The reappearance hitbox has much weaker knockback, but can push shielded opponents who are in the location that Shiek reappears in.
	Custom 1	Gale	0%	Sheik vanishes and reappears faster while traveling a further distance, with the loss of a vanishing and reappearing hitbox.
	Custom 2	Abyss	5% (vanish), 4% (travel)	There is no longer a short vertical movement before Sheik's vanish and it will meteor smash for the entire duration of the vanish. However, the distance travelled is shorter and her pathway during it is visible.
Down special	Default	Bouncing Fish	12%	Sheik flips forward a moderate distance and kicks the opponent. If her feet connect with an opponent, she will flip back a small distance and land on her feet. She can kick up to three times if the preceding kicks connect. Upon a miss, she lands on her back and stands up. Strong knockback and one of her best KO moves. Also drastically improves her off-stage recovery as vanish can be used immediately afterwards. Kick sooner by hitting the button again.
	Custom 1	Jellyfish	8% (grounded opponents), 10.5% (aerial opponents)	Sheik's 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. She can kick up to two times if the preceding kick connects.
	Custom 2	Pisces	15.5%	Sheik's flip is faster and more shallow, which requires pressing the attack button in order to kick if the attack is used while standing on the ground. If the hit lands, she will flip a short distance forward and will launch opponents backwards while dealing more knockback. It can't be used more than once before landing on the ground.If it hits, she can control her movement.
Final Smash		Light Arrow	1% (hit 1), 44% (Light Arrow 1st opponent), 33% (2nd opponent), 24% (3rd opponent)	Sheik pulls out a large magical bow and light arrow which she fires in a straight, horizontal line across the stage. It can strike multiple opponents, but the damage decreases for each successive target. Has very high knockback.

Taunts

• Up: Balances on one hand.
• Side: Pulls out her Chain.
• Down: Performs a ninja pose with her right arm in front of her face.

On-Screen Appearance

Appears from a smoke bomb while striking a pose.

Idle Poses

• Moves her hand in front of her face, then quickly moves it back down.
• Turns around and balances on one leg.

Victory Fanfare

A flourished remix directly from Brawl. It is a remix of the tune that will play when Link obtained a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is shared with Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Toon Link.

Victory Poses

• SheikPose1WiiU.png
• SheikPose2WiiU.png
• SheikPose3WiiU.png

• Crouches, swipes with her hand twice, then stands up, posing.
• Kicks once, spins on the ground, then poses. Replaces her old thinking victory animation.
• Two kicks, then a ninja stance.

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

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

Notable players

•  Akiro
•  False
•  K9
•  Mr. R
•  NEO
•  Nietono
•  Nyanko
•  RAIN
•  Trevonte
•  Vinnie
•  VoiD
•  ZeRo

Trophies

Sheik

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

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

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

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

Sheik (Alt.)

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

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

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

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

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 it launches its targets at a more shallow angle.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• SheikAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Light Arrow

Update history

1.0.4

• Forward aerial damage reduced from 6.8% to 5.5% (sweetspot) and 6% to 4.8% (sourspot).
• Needle Storm has slightly more ending lag.
• Up aerial hits one less time and does 7% damage instead of 8%.
• Bouncing Fish knockback decreased.

1.0.6

• Back aerial damage and knockback significantly decreased: 11/10% → 8/7%
• Down tilt damage: 7.5% → 5%

1.1.0

• Forward aerial deals less damage (5.5%/4.8% → 5.0%/4.3%), but with knockback compensated on the sweetspot (125 → 132).
• Sour spot hitbox now overlaps sweet spot hitbox.

Alternate costumes

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Melee: Sheik is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents debut in Melee, and reappear in Smash 4.
• Aura Mastery: The player, as Lucario, must defeat an invisible Sheik and Wii Fit Trainer.
• Identity Crisis: Sheik must defeat Samus. After defeating her, the player must defeat Zero Suit Samus. If Sheik dies, then Zelda will appear.

Co-op Events

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

Gallery

• 

  Sheik's introduction picture.

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  Sheik's amiibo.

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  A pose.

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  In the air.

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  Throwing an attack at Samus.

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  Burst Grenade.

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  Neutral aerial.

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  A face closeup.

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  With Navi.

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  A pose.

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in the 3DS version.

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  Charging up smash.

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  Charging Needle Storm midair.

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  Attacking Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.

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  Posing.

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  Attacking Little Mac.

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  Charging up Needle Storm.

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  Bouncing Fish against Mario.

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  Burst Grenade.

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in the Wii U version.

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  Sheik attacking Samus.

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  Sheik and Wii Fit Trainer attacking Mega Man.

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  Sheik attacking Marth.

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  Jumping.

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  Sheik and Greninja.

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  Sheik and Little Mac.

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  Sheik fighting Toon Link.

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  Down taunt.

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  Little Mac attacking Sheik.

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  Sheik slipping on a banana peel.

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  Sheik and Toon Link.

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  Sheik running from Little Mac.

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  Jumping.

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  Side taunt.

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  Sheik and Olimar.

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  Toon Link holding a bomb in front of Sheik.

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  Sheik posing with Wii Fit Trainer.

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  Sheik and Olimar.

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  In the air.

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  On the 3DS Version.

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  Sheik and Yoshi.

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  Sheik and Charizard.

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  Sheik and Lucario.

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  Sheik and Little Mac.

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  Sheik charging Needle Storm.

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  Neutral air attack.

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  Jumping over Mario and Luigi.

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  Sheik on Yoshi's back.

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  Using the Burst Grenade.

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  Jumping in the Prism Tower stage.

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  Above a shark in the Tortimer Island stage.

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  Sheik and Zelda.

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  Sheik about to attack Mario, Samus and Donkey Kong.

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  In the air.

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  Above Olimar.

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  Neutral air attack.

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  Sheik and Pikachu.

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  Sheik and Toon Link.

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  Sheik with Charizard and Pikachu.

Trivia

• In the Portuguese localisation of SSB4, Sheik is referred to as "o Sheik" ("o" is the masculine definite article).
• Although Sheik has a new idle animation, she will revert to her previous one if holding a light item.