Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Young Link (SSBU)

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Revision as of 09:53, February 20, 2019 by 187.207.58.21 (talk) (Already noted in the changelog)
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This article is about Young Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Young Link.
Young Link
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Young Link SSBU.png
ZeldaSymbol.svg
Universe The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearance in Melee


Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Triforce Slash
Young Link (SSBU)
He’s back after 17 years! Young Link is faster than Link but he’s also lighter, making him easier to launch.
Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Young Link (こどもリンク, Young Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed as playable on June 12th, 2018. Young Link is classified as fighter #22.

As in Melee, Fujiko Takimoto's portrayals of Young Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and its sequel Majora's Mask were repurposed for Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

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

With the exception of the third method, Young Link must then be defeated on Great Bay.

Differences between Link in SSB4 and Young Link

Since Link has been heavily reworked to match his appearance in Breath of the Wild, Young Link effectively functions as a stand-in for Link’s older apearance. However, as Young Link is based off of Ocarina of Time rather than Twilight Princess, Young Link is not a perfect stand-in for Link in SSB4 and Brawl. Rather, he is closer to Link’s appearances in Smash 64 and Melee.

Of note is that despite Link's Breath of the Wild-inspired rework, Young Link's moveset is still cloned from him (with the exception of his dash attack and grab). However, many of Young Link's animations are more similar to Link in Smash 4 than in Ultimate.

Aesthetics

  • Change Young Link is based on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time rather than The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This means that Young Link’s clothes are much brighter and less shabby.
  • Change Young Link wields the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield instead of the Master Sword and Hylian Shield.
  • Change Young Link's on-screen appearance, taunts, idle poses, and two of his victory animations are different from Link's.

Attributes

  • Change Young Link is shorter than Link. While this does make him harder to hit, it also results in him having less reach in his attacks.
  • Nerf Young Link will sometimes hold his Deku Shield to the side during his walking and idle animations. This makes it less reliable for blocking projectiles.
  • Nerf Young Link's Kokiri Sword has less of a disjointed range advantage on his attacks than Link, which gives him inferior range when combined with his shorter height.
  • Buff Young Link's air speed is faster than Link's (0.88 → 0.966).
  • Buff Young Link walks faster than Link (1.188 → 1.26).
  • Buff Young Link dashes faster than Link (1.3944 → 1.749).
  • Change Young Link falls faster (1.6 → 1.8) than Link.
  • Buff Young Link's traction is significantly higher than Link's (0.064 → 0.105).
  • Change Young Link has a greater jump height than Link.
  • Change Young Link deals less knockback for most of his attacks. This overall weakens his KO potential in comparison to Link, but it also grants Young link access to new combos.
  • Buff Unlike Link, Young Link can wall jump.
  • Nerf Young Link's Hookshot is shorter than Link's Clawshot, reducing its utility as a recovery tool.
  • Change Young Link is significantly lighter than Link (104 → 88). While this drastically worsens his endurance for horizontal and vertical survival, his faster falling speed lessens his otherwise reduced weakness to combos.

Ground attacks

  • Change Young Link's neutral attack can either end in a third hit or a neutral infinite with a finisher hit.
  • Change Young Link's dash attack has him slash directly in front of himself while running forward, instead of performing the Jump Attack from Ocarina of Time.

Aerial attacks

Throws/other attacks

  • Change Edge attack has Young Link swipe his sword in front of himself, unlike Link who stabs forward.

Special moves

  • Buff Fire Arrows deal more hitstun than Link's arrows, increasing his combo ability and making the move safer on hit up close. It also has a slightly faster startup than Link's Hero's Bow.
    • Change Fire Arrow deals flame damage (hence the name).
    • Nerf Fire Arrows travel less distance.
  • Change Instead of the Gale Boomerang, Young Link retains his standard Boomerang, which does not have a windbox.
    • Nerf Boomerang travels less distance compared to Link's Gale Boomerang.
    • Buff Boomerang can damage opponents on the way back.
  • Buff Spin Attack lands multiple hits instead of one, allowing it to trap opponents within its hitboxes, and the late hitboxes inflict more damage.
    • Nerf Nonetheless, it is still weaker than Link's clean Spin Attack in damage. Also, it is not a viable KO move unlike Link's.
  • Change Young Link's Bomb looks slightly different from Link's, as it is smaller; it has a smaller projectile hitbox but is slightly harder to track visually when thrown.
    • Buff Young Link's bombs have four hitboxes as opposed to Link's two, increasing their hitstun and combo ability.
    • Buff Young Link's bombs do more damage to opponents than Link's, given that all of their hitboxes connect.
    • Nerf The multi-hit property of the bombs means that their explosion can affect Young Link more often in close range.
    • Nerf Young Link's Bombs travel a shorter distance when thrown.
  • Change For Triforce Slash, the final flourish and slash have altered animations, as Young Link rears his hand back and does an outward slash, instead of a stab.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

Young Link is still faster and lighter than Link. He retains moves and characteristics from Melee that Link himself no longer possesses, such as a rapid jab, dash attack, and Hookshot. Their moves largely appear and function similarly but some of them have different attributes. Young Link shares some traits with Link's incarnation in SSB4 in some aspects as well.

Young Link has been buffed in the transition from Melee to Ultimate. Young Link's speed has been improved from Melee not just in terms of his mobility but also his attacks. Many of his attacks have decreased ending lag and his aerials have heavily decreased landing lag (even compared to their L-canceled counterparts). Some of his moves have also been reworked to make them more reliable and effective such as his up smash and his forward and back aerials and the weakening of SDI heavily benefits his multi-hit attacks.

However, he has also seen a few nerfs. Some of Young Link's attacks deal less damage while others have shorter durations and a few of his attacks even have slightly increased startup and ending lag. His aerial mobility is also worse (especially when relative to the cast) and his down tilt and down aerial no longer have meteor smash hitboxes meaning that Young Link gains no benefits from the removal of meteor canceling. The changes to air dodging also hinder his mobility as wavedashing and wavelanding are significantly less effective.

Despite his nerfs, Young Link is a significantly better character than he was in Melee although to what extent is currently unknown.

Aesthetics

  • Change Due to the game's graphical improvements, Young Link's design gains additional detail, particularly in his hair. His colors are more subdued than they were in Melee.
  • Change Young Link is relatively bigger; he is almost as tall as regular Link.
  • Change Young Link is much more expressive. Like Diddy Kong, his hat is also "looser" on his head and pops off during certain animations, such as his down aerial.
  • Change Young Link now has an entrance animation, similar to Link's animation from the original Super Smash Bros.
  • Change Young Link's taunt from Melee has been moved to his down taunt and it executes significantly faster. In addition, he has two new taunts: one where he triumphantly lifts his sword into the air while grinning, and another where Navi flies around him, akin to Link's side taunt in Brawl and Smash 4.
  • Change Young Link has new voice clips for taking medium and heavy knockback, a second KO voice clip, and a different Star KO scream.
  • Change The Kokiri Sword now has a bronze hilt. It leaves behind a white trail with blue accents, as opposed to a pure white trail in Melee.
    • Change Additionally, Link's yellow and blue Spin Attack sword trail from Smash 4 is recycled for Young Link, as Link now has a unique sword trail.
  • Change All sword attacks now make a standard slash sound effect instead of a punch/kick sound effect like in Melee.
  • Change Young Link now has three additional alternate costumes, bringing his total up to the standard eight. His black alternate costume has also been altered to better resemble Dark Link.
  • Change Young Link now has a Boxing Ring alias, being “Master of the Ocarina.”
  • Change Young Link's victory animation where he adjusts his belt is slightly different. He now holds the Kokiri Sword and after adjusting, flicks his nose with his thumb.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Young Link's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 4).
  • Buff Young Link walks faster (1.2 → 1.26).
  • Buff Young Link dashes much faster (1.6 → 1.749) although relative to the cast, his dashing speed is now only slightly above average. His initial dash is also faster (1.72 → 2.09).
  • Nerf Young Link's air speed is slightly slower (1 → 0.966), one of the few exceptions to returning veterans. It has gone from the 6th highest air speed to only the 60th highest.
  • Change Young Link's fall speed has been slightly reduced (2.13 → 1.8), but is now faster relative to the roster.
  • Buff Young Link's midair jump is significantly higher. This improves Young Link's ability to recover back to the stage.
  • Buff Young Link now has a fast fall speed more in line with the rest of the roster (2.2 → 2.88), in comparison to his almost unnoticeable fast fall in Melee. This greatly increases the versatility of his air game, and allows him to use various mix-ups that other characters possess.
  • Buff Young Link's Deku Shield now protects him from projectiles while walking, similar to the shields of all other Link incarnations.
  • Change Young Link is slightly heavier (85 → 88), which improves his survivability but makes him more susceptible to combos.
  • Nerf The removal of meteor canceling harms Young Link more than any other returning veteran as it significantly hinders his endurance against meteor smashes and he no longer has access to any meteor smashes of his own.
  • Nerf The changes to air dodging hinder Young Link's mobility and he can no longer use his grab aerial out of an air dodge.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Neutral attack's first and second hit can now jab lock at higher percents.
    • Buff Neutral attack's final hit has slightly more horizontal range.
    • Buff The first three hits of neutral attack have less ending lag (frame 24 → 20) (hit 1), frame 23 → 17 (hit 2), frame 51 → 36 (hit 3)).
    • Buff Neutral attack infinite is now a flurry of slashes that transition much faster, and has a finisher in the form of an ascending slash.
    • Change Neutral attack now consists of two hits followed by either a stab if the attack button is held, or a neutral infinite if the button is mashed, akin to that of Captain Falcon.
    • Nerf Neutral attack deals less damage (3% → 2% (hit 1), 2% → 1.5% (hit 2), 5% → 3.5% (hit 3), 1% → 0.3% (loop hits)). the first three hits also have shorter durations (frames 6-8 (hits 1/2), frames 6-10 (hit 3) → frames 6-7 (all).
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt covers more vertical range. It also has less startup lag (frame 11 → 10).
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff Up tilt has increased vertical range.
    • Nerf Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 9-15 → 9-14) and has more ending lag (frame 31 → 32).
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt has much quicker startup (frame 14 → 8) and ending lag (frame 41 → 26).
      • Buff Due to these changes, down tilt is a safer and much more reliable combo starter.
    • Nerf Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 14-16 → 8-9). It also has less vertical range.
    • Nerf Down tilt can no longer meteor smash aerial opponents.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack has less ending lag (frame 55 → 35).
    • Nerf Dash attack has more startup lag and a shorter duration (frames 7-11 → 8-10). It also sends opponents at a higher angle, hindering its edgeguarding potential.
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff The first hit of forward smash has less ending lag (frame 50 → 48). The second hit also deals more damage (10% → 12%) and is properly affected by charging.
    • Buff The second hit of forward smash will no longer miss when Young Link is extremely close to the opponent, improving its reliability.
    • Nerf The first hit deals less damage (10% → 6%) and no longer has set knockback, hindering its reliability at higher percents. The second hit has more startup lag (frame 10 → 11), has more ending lag (frame 41 → 50) and it deals less knockback. Both hits also have a shorter duration (3 frames (hit 1), 4 frames (hit 2) → 2 frames (both)).
  • Up smash:
    • Nerf Up smash has more ending lag (frame 61 → 70). The final hit also has more startup lag (frame 40 → 41).
    • Buff Up smash's hits chain together much more reliably due to the weakening of SDI and an increase in hitbox sizes.
    • Buff The second hit of up smash deals more damage (2% → 3%), and the first two hits also have less startup lag and longer durations (frames 11-14/26-28 → 10-14/25-29).
    • Buff The final hit of up smash has much higher knockback, allowing it to kill at realistic percents.
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash has less ending lag (frame 51 → 50) and the sourspots deal more damage (7% → 10% (front), 6% → 9% (back).
    • Nerf Down smash has a shorter duration (frames 9-12/21-23 → 9-10/21-22).
    • Nerf Down smash no longer has a hitbox on Young Link's foot on the second swipe, reducing its overall safety.

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have significantly less landing lag (15 frames → 6 (neutral/forward/back), 30 frames → 14 (up), 50 frames → 17 (down)) having even less than when L-canceled in Melee.
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial has less ending lag (frame 41 → 36).
    • Nerf Neutral aerial deals less damage (12% (clean), 8% (late) → 10%/5%) hindering its KO potential.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial is no longer a single degrading hit, and instead hits twice like Link's. It deals more damage when both hits connect (12% → 14%) and has slightly higher KO potential. It also has less ending lag (frame 56 → 41).
    • Buff Forward aerial's first hit can lead into combos if Young Link lands before the second hit comes out, which gives him more options to rack up damage or secure a KO.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial has less ending lag (frame 41 → 30). The first hit now has set knockback making it connect much more reliably with the second hit, and also allows for followups if Young Link lands before the second hit comes out. The second also hit deals more knockback.
    • Nerf The first hit deals less damage (5% → 7%) and both hits have shorter durations (frames 6-9/18-23 → 6-8/18-20).
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff Up aerial has less ending lag (frame 71 → 60).
    • Nerf Up aerial has a slightly shorter duration (frames 5-50 → 5-49).
    • Nerf The hitboxes of up aerial are much more narrow, making it harder to connect. Combined with the changes to collision between players in Ultimate, this makes landing an up aerial on a grounded opponent much more difficult than before.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial has less ending lag (frame 91 → 80). The early hit also deals more damage (14% → 18%), improving its KO potential.
    • Nerf Down aerial no longer has a meteor smash hitbox on Young Link's head, removing the move's ability to meteor smash opponents from below. The late hit also deals less damage 17% → 15%) and down aerial has a slightly shorter duration (frames 13-65 → 13-64).
  • Grab aerial:
    • Buff Grab aerial has dramatically decreased landing lag (30 frames → 8), granting it combo potential. It also no longer leaves him helpless.
    • Nerf Grab aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 9-18 → 11-18) and it has more ending lag (frame 61 → 74). It also deals less damage (5% → 4%) and is now affected by stale move negation.

Throws/other attacks

  • Buff Young Link's grabs have significantly less ending lag (frame 86 → 53 (standing), frame 96 → 61 (dash), making it safer to use. They also have longer durations (4 frames → 7).
    • Nerf Grabs have more startup lag (frame 10 → 12 (standing), frame 13 → 14 (dash)).
  • Buff Young Link's pummel executes much faster, making it more viable to use.
  • Change Young Link jumps a bit higher when performing his up throw.
  • Change Down throw has an altered angle; it now sends opponents slightly more horizontally than before.
  • Change Hookshot is no longer a wall grapple, and is instead a tether recovery.
    • Nerf This removes the ability to grapple to any wall, reducing its versatility.
    • Buff Hookshot's range and safety has improved to compensate.

Special Moves

  • Fire Arrow:
    • Change Fire Bow has been renamed to Fire Arrow.
    • Change Fire Arrows are now ablaze when being charged and fired, as compared to Melee where the arrow does not light up at all.
    • Change Fire Arrows have been redesigned to more closely resemble the artwork found in the manual for Ocarina of Time.
    • Buff Fire Arrow has slightly decreased ending lag (frame 39 → 38), and the arrows fly much further than before and deal more knockback, even when not fully charged. Young Link can also now B-reverse Fire Arrow.
      • Buff Due to all of these changes, Fire Arrow is now a very potent projectile and combo tool, making it an essential part of Young Link's toolkit. This is a massive buff that greatly increases his combo potential, zoning game, and ability to pressure his opponent.
    • Nerf Fire Arrows stay active for a shorter period of time.
    • Nerf Fire Arrow deals less damage (8%-15% → 4%-12%).
  • Boomerang:
    • Change Young Link has a new throwing animation for the Boomerang.
    • Change Boomerang can not be angled as sharply as in Melee; however, this makes the more useful angles of Boomerang easier to use.
    • Buff Young Link's Boomerang is much bigger; it is also thrown vertically instead of horizontally when released, increasing its coverage immensely. Young Link can now B-reverse Boomerang.
    • Bug fix Combined with the removal of wall grappling with Hookshot, returned Boomerang no longer causes Young Link to jump much higher than before.
    • Nerf Boomerang deals less damage when thrown at point-blank range (16% (normal) 19% (smash) → 11%/13.2%).
  • Spin Attack:
    • Change Grounded Spin Attack deals two less hits (12 → 10) during its multi-hit portion of the attack. It still deals the same amount of damage due to changes to stale move negation.
    • Buff Grounded Spin Attack's endlag has been reduced (frame 81 → 71). Combined with lower vertical knockback on the finisher, this allows the move to combo into his aerials. It also connects more reliably.
    • Buff Grounded Spin Attack can now be charged, as with the other incarnations of Link.
    • Nerf Grounded Spin Attack has more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
    • Buff Aerial Spin Attack preserves much more momentum after being used, and Young Link can drift more in the air during its animation. In addition, the move's vertical recovery has increased.
    • Buff Aerial Spin Attack's hits connect much more reliably into each other, improving its safety.
    • Nerf Aerial Spin Attack deals slightly less damage (13% → 12%).
  • Bomb:
    • Buff Like with Link's Bombs in Super Smash Bros. 4, the explosions from Young Link's Bombs do not damage him if they hit an opponent.
    • Buff Young Link's Bombs travel further when thrown.
    • Buff Compared to previous incarnations of Bombs, Young Link's Bombs deal noticeably less self-damage if they detonate just after being thrown.
    • Buff Similarly to Link in Smash 4, Young Link can "soft-toss" his Bombs, which lets him lay Bombs on the floor with a throw without having the Bomb explode. This allows Young Link to set traps on the floor to hinder his opponent, and also allows for mindgame potential. Additionally, Young Link can Z-drop Bombs without them exploding much easier than in Melee.
    • Buff The multi-hits of Young Link's Bombs accumulate much faster than in Melee, making the damage more consistent.
    • Nerf Bomb's damage output is lower, even with all hits connecting (14% → 8%).
  • Triforce Slash:
    • Change Young Link now has a Final Smash, that being Triforce Slash. Visually, this variant resembles Link's version from Smash 4, but it has completely unique animations for attacks, including a shield bash, kicks, and a different finisher in an outward slash.

Update History

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.2.0

  • Bug fix Invisible bomb glitch fixed.

Moveset

  • While standing still, walking, or crouching, incoming projectiles that hit Young Link's Deku Shield will deal no damage and simply push him back. It can block any amount of projectiles regardless of power.
  • Young Link can wall jump.
  • Young Link possesses a tether attack and grab.

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

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   2% Two forward swings, followed by either a single launching stab, or a loop of quick slices, ending with a forward thrust.
1.5%
3.5%
0.3% (loop), 2.5% (final hit)
Forward tilt   12% (body), 11% (tip) Young Link raises the Kokiri Sword over his head and slashes forward.
Up tilt   8% An upwards slice with the Kokiri Sword.
Down tilt   10% (body), 7% (tip) A crouching slash.
Dash attack   11% (body), 10% (tip) A dash swing.
Forward smash   6% (first), 12% (second) Winds up and swings the Kokiri Sword forward. Pressing the button again allows for a second and more powerful slash.
Up smash   3% (first), 3% (second), 8% (third) Three upward-arcing slashes.
Down smash   13% (front), 12% (back) A slash forward, leading into a slash behind.
Neutral aerial   10% (clean), 5% (late) A standard sex kick.
Forward aerial   6% (first), 8% (second) Quickly slices twice in the air.
Back aerial   5% (first), 7% (second) Performs a double backwards kick.
Up aerial   15% (clean), 12% (late) An upwards thrust.
Down aerial   15% Performs the Down Thrust.
Grab Hookshot Fires his Hookshot straight forward. It functions as a Tether Grab, and can be used for tether recovery.
Pummel   1% Quickly hits the opponent with the pommel of the Kokiri Sword.
Forward throw   6% A forward kick.
Back throw   6% (throw), 3% (collateral) Swings his opponent to the opposite direction and kicks them away.
Up throw   6% Tosses the opponent up into the air and performs a spinning upwards slash.
Down throw   6% (throw) 3% (collateral) Pins the opponent to the ground and performs an elbow drop.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  9% Climbs up the ledge and performs a slash.
Neutral special Fire Arrow 4% (uncharged), 12% (fully charged) Fires a flaming arrow from his bow. It can be charged up for more power and range. The arrows send opponents at an upwards angle, making it a good tool for aerial combos. In addition to this, it has low ending lag when used grounded or in the air, making it an excellent combo and spacing tool all around.
Side special Boomerang 11% (near), 13.2 (smash attack), 7% (far), 9% (return), Throws his Boomerang forward. It can be aimed diagonally and deals damage when returning to Young Link.
Up special Spin Attack 1% (uncharged hits 1-10), 3% (uncharge hit 11), 1.6% (charged hits 1-10), 4.8% (charged hit 11), 3% (aerial hit 1), 2% (aerial hits 2-4) 3% (aerial hit 5) Spins with his sword outwards, slashing opponents nearby. Just like the Spin Attack of the other two Link incarnations, it can be charged when grounded for more damage.
Down special Bomb 2.4% (hit 1-4) Pulls out a Bomb. Just like in Melee, the explosion from the bomb hits multiple times.
Final Smash Triforce Slash 60% Traps opponents inside a large Triforce, allowing Young Link to slash at them repeatedly.

On-screen appearance

  • Floats down from the sky and then equips the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Holds the Kokiri Sword up in the air.
  • Side taunt: Places the Deku Shield on his back and watches a fairy fly around.
  • Down taunt: Sheaths the Kokiri Sword and places the Deku Shield on his back and takes a drink of Lon Lon Milk.

Victory poses

  • Adjusts his belt and flicks his nose.
  • Horizontal swipe with his sword, then holds it up, giving off a battle cry. This is identical to one of Link's poses other than the camera angle.
  • Sheathes his sword, dusts his hands off, and puts them on his hips while grinning.
A flourished and abridged remix of the theme that plays when Link obtains a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda and has since become the main theme of The Legend of Zelda series.

In competitive play

Notable players

Classic Mode: Hyrule Smash

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

Round Opponent Stage Music
1 Zelda Hyrule Castle Hyrule Main Theme
2 Dark Young Link Temple Song of Storms
3 Sheik Gerudo Valley (Ω form) Gerudo Valley
4 4 Toon Links Pirate Ship The Great Sea / Menu Select
5 Ganondorf Bridge of Eldin Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
6 Link Great Plateau Tower Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bonus Stage
Final Ganon ? Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form

Role in World of Light

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

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

Spirits

Young Link's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Young Link in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, this incarnation of Link makes an appearance in a few Primary and Support Spirits under other forms.

Alternate costumes

Alternate costume (SSBU)
Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU) Young Link (SSBU)

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

Trivia

  • Young Link's official artwork is based off of the pose he strikes after using his grounded Spin Attack.
  • Young Link and Pichu share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate.
    • This has been noted by both of their Super Smash Bros. blog's "Today's Fighter" descriptions.
  • The belt around Young Link's sheath appears to have back-face culling, as it is shown to not be visible when seen from the other side. This is mostly noticeable whenever he is shown performing his down taunt, where he is drinking Lon-Lon milk at the end of his character showcase video. This was fixed in the initial release of the game.
    • Additionally, his legs would clip through his tunic in his showcase video, which was also fixed in the initial release of the game.
  • Due to Young Link's hair having more physics-based movement, in certain animations such as taking damage, it's possible to see that his sideburns get cut off rather than being connected to his cap.
  • There is currently an animation error with Young Link's up tilt; during the ending lag, the sword does a full rotation in his hand.