Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Link (SSBU)

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This article is about Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Link.
Link
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Link SSBU.png
ZeldaSymbol.svg
Universe The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Melee
in Brawl
in SSB4
Availability Starter
(Unlockable in World of Light)
Final Smash Ancient Bow and Arrow
Link (SSBU)
Link has been redesigned to match his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He can now pick up arrows he's fired, and his bombs have been upgraded to remote bombs, so you can set them off when the timing is just right!
Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Link (リンク, Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was teased in a trailer released on March 8th, 2018 before being fully confirmed as playable on June 12th, 2018. Link is classified as fighter #03.

Link is now voiced by Kengo Takanashi, who reprises his role from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.[citation needed]

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Overall, Link received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition between Super Smash Bros. 4 and Ultimate. Link now incorporates many elements from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild into his moveset, such as the Remote Bomb, the Ancient Bow & Ancient Arrow, and the Sword Beam. Compared to his previous iterations in Smash, his faster dash speed and longer sword improve his close combat capabilities, while the return of the Boomerang improves his ability to combo. Alternatively, Remote Bombs offer an array of advantages and disadvantages over the previous Bombs, while the loss of the Clawshot hinders his grab range and recovery.

Aesthetics

  • Change Link's design is now based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. His default outfit is the blue Champion's Tunic with the more traditional green Tunic of the Wild as an alternate costume, each having their own respective set of palette swaps. The Master Sword's design has also been updated to match its appearance in Breath of the Wild.
  • Change Link holds the Master Sword with his right hand and the Hylian Shield with his left hand like he does in Breath of the Wild and other recent Zelda games. He also has an altered idle pose with his legs positioned further apart and his sword and shield held up at all times.
  • Change Link has a new side taunt where he holds the Master Sword in front of him with both hands while it glows, similar to one of Ike's taunts.
  • Change Link's victory animation where he swings his sword then sheathes it now has him swing it back before sheathing it.
  • Change Link's new on-screen appearance involves him gliding onto the stage using the Paraglider.
  • Change Link's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "Champion of Hyrule".

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Link's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 7).
  • Buff Link jumps higher.
  • Buff Link dashes faster.
  • Buff The Master Sword is longer, increasing the range of Link's sword-based attacks.

Ground Attacks

  • Change Neutral attack's final hit now involves Link swiping vertically instead of thrusting his sword.
    • Change Neutral attack's damage has been redistributed, with the first two hits dealing more damage and the third hit dealing less.
  • Nerf Forward tilt has more endlag.
    • Change Forward tilt causes the screen to shake when the sword hits the ground.
  • Change Up tilt is an overhead arcing slash that starts from behind Link.
    • Nerf Up tilt no longer encircles Link's entire body, hindering its horizontal range. It also leaves Link more vulnerable to frontal attacks.
    • Buff Up tilt deals more damage.
  • Nerf Down tilt deals less damage.
  • Buff Dash attack's sweetspot deals more damage.
    • Change Dash attack's initial lunge provides less distance, decreasing the move's horizontal range but allowing Link to more reliably hit opponents closer to him.
  • Buff Forward smash's first hit shoots out a spinning Sword Beam when Link is at 0% damage. Charging forward smash increases the size and damage of the projectile. This is in reference to multiple Zelda games where Link's sword shoots out beams when he is at full health.
  • Nerf Down smash has slightly more startup frames.

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag, with neutral aerial and back aerial now being almost as fast as a hard landing.
  • Buff Forward aerial's first hit now has set knockback that reliably links into the second hit.
    • Buff Forward aerial's animation has been sped up, with the second hit coming out more quickly.
    • Nerf Forward aerial's first hit can no longer KO at reasonable percents.
    • Nerf Both hits of forward aerial deal less damage.
  • Buff Both hits of back aerial deal slightly more damage.
    • Change Back aerial has a slightly different animation.
  • Change Down aerial has a different animation, with a more exaggerated downward thrust.

Throws/other attacks

  • Change Link now grabs opponents with his hand instead of using the Clawshot.
    • Buff All grabs have significantly less endlag.
    • Nerf All grabs have reduced range.
  • Nerf Link no longer has a grab aerial or a tether recovery due to losing the Clawshot.
    • Buff Link can now Z-drop his Remote Bombs without triggering the grab aerial's lengthy animation.
  • Nerf Forward throw and back throw deal less damage.

Special Moves

  • Bow and Arrows:
    • Change Link now uses the Traveler's Bow from Breath of the Wild instead of the Hero's Bow.
    • Change Arrows will become momentarily lodged in opponents' bodies.
    • Buff The bow charges faster.
    • Buff Arrows travel farther at minimum charge.
    • Nerf Arrows travel noticeably slower.
    • Buff Arrows that fail to hit an opponent will linger on the ground for a longer period of time and can be picked up and thrown. Using the Bow and Arrows while holding an arrow causes Link to fire two arrows at once for double the damage.
    • Nerf Arrows can be picked up by opponents and thrown at Link.
  • Boomerang:
    • Change The more traditional Boomerang has replaced the Gale Boomerang, behaving as it did in Smash 64 and Melee.
    • Change Rather than simply disappearing, Boomerang will drop to the ground and disappear in a puff of smoke if it is intercepted by another projectile.
    • Buff Boomerang has regained its damaging hitbox while returning, allowing Link to interrupt opponents' attacks and perform combos more reliably than he could with Gale Boomerang's windbox.
    • Buff Boomerang's throwing range has been increased.
    • Change Boomerang travels more slowly upon returning. This increases the amount of time the hitbox is active but also increases the amount of time it takes before Link can throw it again.
    • Nerf Boomerang will damage Link if it is reflected back at him. Also, Link can no longer perform the Gale Guarding technique.
  • Spin Attack:
    • Change Spin Attack has larger and more vibrant graphics. The grounded version is now an inward spin.
    • Change Link now charges the move like he does in Breath of the Wild, and moves his arm during the charging animation. As the move charges, the Master Sword glints with light up to three times, referencing the three charge levels of charged attacks in Breath of the Wild.
    • Nerf Aerial Spin Attack covers less overall distance, weakening its recovery capabilities.
  • Remote Bomb:
    • Change The spherical Remote Bomb from Breath of the Wild replaces Bomb as Link's down special. Rather than exploding on contact, the Remote Bomb bounces off opponents and objects. It is detonated by inputting down special again, similar to Snake's C4. It will also detonate automatically after about 30 seconds. This changes up Link's item play and recovery tactics substantially.
    • Buff Remote Bomb's 30 second fuse allows it to remain in play much longer than Bomb's 7 seconds.
    • Buff Remote Bomb's explosion has a significantly larger blast radius.
    • Buff Remote Bomb's explosion deals more damage.
    • Buff Remote Bomb's explosion deals significantly higher knockback, improving its KO potential. It also launches opponents at a more horizontal angle, and the opponent's location relative to the bomb determines where they are sent. This generally improves its combo and edgeguarding potential.
    • Nerf Remote Bomb cannot be manually detonated if it is held by an opponent.
    • Nerf Unlike the previous iteration of Bomb, Remote Bomb Runes will damage Link even if the opponent is caught within its blast radius.
    • Nerf Only one Remote Bomb can be on the field at a time, as opposed to two Bombs.
    • Nerf The Remote Bomb itself deals less damage when hitting an opponent since it no longer explodes on contact.
    • Nerf Remote Bomb cannot be detonated while Link is helpless. Coupled with the bomb's horizontal knockback, this hinders Link's vertical recovery.
    • Buff Link can now Z-drop and detonate a Remote Bomb on himself to supplement his horizontal recovery.
  • Final Smash:
    • Change Link's new Final Smash is the Ancient Bow and Arrow, replacing Triforce Slash. It is functionally similar to Zelda's Light Arrow from previous games, although it only deals a single powerful blow to the first opponent in the arrow's path, along with any bystanders.
    • Buff Ancient Bow and Arrow has significantly more horizontal range than Triforce Slash.

Classic Mode: A Quest to Seal the Darkness

Link's opponents are all affiliated with darkness.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Dark Pit Reset Bomb Forest Dark Pit's Theme
2 Giant Ridley Norfair Vs. Ridley
3 Bayonetta Umbra Clock Tower One Of A Kind
4 Dark Samus Frigate Orpheon Boss Battle 4 - Metroid: Samus Returns
5 Ganondorf Gerudo Valley Gerudo Valley Zelda is a CPU ally.
6 Dark Link Temple Great Temple/Temple
Bonus Stage
Final Ganon ?

Role in World of Light

Link was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to fight the army of Master Hands.

Link was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Link successfully deflected three beams of light with his Hylian Shield (staying true to the shield's unbreakable nature), but he lost his footing on the third blow, and was vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters (excluding Kirby).

Alternate costumes

Link Palette (SSBU).png

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

<youtube>kfeUdBi67G4</youtube>

Trivia

  • Ultimate marks the first time in the Smash series where Link does not wear his trademark green tunic as his default outfit, as well as the first time Link no longer has his Goron and Zora tunics from Ocarina of Time as his respective red and blue alternate costumes; however, his traditional design still appears as an alternate costume, the Tunic of the Wild. His new red and blue costumes are based on armor sets from Breath of the Wild, the Hylian Tunic and the Royal Guard Uniform, respectively.
    • Ironically, Link's Champion's Tunic cannot be dyed in Breath of the Wild despite being the base for four of his costumes in Ultimate. His Tunic of the Wild can be dyed, but the colors used for the other four costumes based on this outfit are not possible in Breath of the Wild.
    • Link's Fierce Deity costume is the only recolor of the Tunic of the Wild to not expose his knees. This is in line with how Fierce Deity Link appeared in Majora's Mask.
    • Despite Link's default design now being the Champion's Tunic, which lacks a cap, Kirby still gains his familiar green cap when copying Link.
  • Ultimate is the first Smash game where Link does not use a tether; however, his doppelgängers, Young Link and Toon Link, still use one.
  • In the E3 demo of the game, Link's portrait used his in-game model instead of his official artwork. This was also the case for Mario, Pikachu and Villager.
  • Link is one of three fighters from SSB4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Mega Man and Ryu.