Young Link (SSBU)

Young Link in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearance	in Melee
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Triforce Slash

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

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

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

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

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

Attributes

Young Link is a lightweight character (same as Greninja and Isabelle) and is actually the lightest of the three Links, being three units lighter than Toon Link. Compared to his descendants, he tends to be in the middle of their movement stats, with Toon Link usually being faster than him, but outclassing the mobility of regular Link. In terms of the rest of the cast, Young Link’s dashing speed is average, his initial dash is above average, and his air speed and acceleration are both low. His falling speed is above average, actually being the highest of the Links, however his fast falling speed is slower than Link’s, albeit still above average. Finally, his gravity is average and tied with Link’s. Overall, Young Link’s mobility is very average.

Young Link’s moveset is regarded as one of the best and most reliable in the entire game. While even the best characters in the game usually have one or two moves in their moveset regarded as worthless, none of Young Link’s moves are competitively unviable and all serve a purpose to his kit. There are two reasons for this. The first being that, like his descendants, he wields a sword. However, in his case, he wields his starting weapon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask: the Kokiri Sword. Being a sword, the Kokiri Sword grants Young Link disjointed range, giving him the ability to space out his opponents as well as making his sword attacks risky to trade with unless the opponent has disjointed range of their own. The second, and more important, is his outstanding frame data. While Link has been synonymous with poor frame data and a laggy moveset due to his past appearances up until Ultimate, Young Link, on the other hand, has some of the best frame data in the entire game, with many of his moves being infamous for how quickly they come out coupled with how little cooldown they have. As a result, many moves of his are extremely safe on shield, such as down tilt, neutral air, forward air, back air, and even his boomerang. Additionally, the speed of his moveset makes it reliable for one of Young Link’s most notable aspects: his combo game.

While the Link archetype is one that has never been known for combos, Young Link subverts this by providing one of the most complex and varied combo games out of the entire cast. His down tilt and up tilt are specifically designed to start combos, with both simply knocking the opponents up into the air with weak knockback to set up for his aerials, while his jab can transition into a rapid jab for respectable damage or be used to jab lock opponents and set up for down tilt into an aerial combo. However, his aerials are truly what gives him the outstanding combo game he has. Most of them are capable of both starting combos as well as continuing them, making their usage very flexible and wide. His neutral air, perhaps his best aerial, is a simple sex kick. It’s late hit in particular is extremely good for combos, being able to both start and continue combos even into high percentages and being able to be followed up with a majority of Young Link’s moveset. It can also lead to tech chase situations at high percents when the move causes opponents to go into tumble. The clean hit, on the other hand, is a very reliable “get off me” tool that prevents other combo heavy characters from overwhelming Young Link with combos of their own, as well as providing him with an out of shield option. Overall, the sheer utility of this move has caused it to gain the reputation as one of the best aerials in the game.

Forward and back air are both designed similarly. Both attacks are combo attacks that consist of a first weak hit that is meant to lead into a second stronger attack that contains knockback. However, these are both meant to be used in different ways. Back air is much more geared towards combos as it comes out fast, has very little lag, and deals minimal knockback, making it easy to follow up with another back air or another move. Forward air is instead a combo finisher as it comes out slower and is slower overall than back air in exchange for having much more power and knockback, being one of Young Link’s best KO moves. Additionally, both of these moves can be land cancelled before their second hits come out, essentially allowing them another way to set up for combos. Up air is a thrust above Young Link that comes out very fast for how strong it is and lingers awhile, making it useful for covering the space above him. It can be used to juggle opponents, as it’s hard to challenge due to it’s disjoint. Additionally, when fresh, it is one of his most potent KO moves and can be comboed into quite flexibly. Down air, while not being a combo tool, serves as a reliable landing option due to it’s lingering hitbox and disjointed range as well as a KO tool at high percents.

However, Young Link is not completely reliant upon his superb combo game and his special moves grant him many more options to work with. Fire Arrow fires a flaming arrow in front of Young Link. The most notable aspect of this move, much like the rest of Young Link’s moveset, is how fast it is. It contains very little startup and ending lag and even an uncharged arrow travels a respectable distance, making it very useful for zoning. The arrow itself also deals low upwards knockback with high hitstun, essentially making them reliable combo starters, too, provided Young Link is close enough to his opponent. Fire Arrow can also be charged, allowing it to fly further and do more damage than a noncharged arrow. However, this charge cannot be held, unlike moves such as Samus’ Charge Shot. Boomerang is slower than Fire Arrow, but comes with the perks of more damage, lasting much longer, and returning to Young Link after travelling a certain distance, meaning that the opponent must remain aware of the boomerang’s location even after it has passed them. Boomerang is best used as another projectile to force the opponent to worry about getting around and granting Young Link stage control. Interestingly, a point blank boomerang is actually safe on shield against most of the cast, something extremely uncharacteristic of a projectile. Bombs, Young Link’s third and final projectile, are perhaps his most flexible. Using the move will have Young Link pull out and light a bomb before holding it in his hand. Afterwards, the bomb functions as a held item, allowing Young Link to throw it forward, backward, up, and down in addition to being able to drop it and have it lie on the ground until it explodes. Bombs grant Young Link a numerous amount of trapping opportunities, such as being able to use dropped bombs to cover platforms or ledge getup options, as well as setting up for combos if the Bomb hits an opponent. Essentially, these three moves allow Young Link to play as a zoner, much like regular Link does. However, Young Link is unique in that, while most zoners’ weaknesses are their poor frame data and inability to get opponents off of them, he is more than capable of fighting up close and actually likes when his opponents get close to him, as it allows him to take advantage of his combo game. While on the topic of his combo game, his last special move, Spin Attack, serves as a surprisingly effective combo starter on the ground, where it knocks opponents up into the air with weak knockback and has little endlag. In the air, it is instead a combo finisher, reliably KOing opponents at the ledge at high percents.

Young Link’s grab game provides him with some interesting options. Unlike Link, Young Link still retains use of the Hookshot for his grab, giving him a very long grab range in exchange for his grab being laggier than most. Additionally, the Hookshot itself can be used as a ZAir attack, where it has the longest range of any of his aerials, and can confirm into Up Smash for KOs at higher percents. This ZAir attack can also allow him to grab onto ledges provided he is close enough, providing him with another recovery option. His forward throw is one of the strongest throws in the game, KOing middleweights at the ledge of Final Destination around 130%. Up and down throws both have combo potential in the low-to-mid percent range. Back throw is the least useful of his throws but can set up for an edgeguard.

However, while he has some very potent strengths, Young Link has some notable weaknesses. His range, while disjointed, is significantly lacking when compared to other sword users. As a result, despite having a sword, Young Link is beaten out in range by nearly every other swordfighter in the game, causing his mid-range game to be rather poor as his attacks are too short ranged to hit but his projectiles leave him wide open to attack. Unlike other sword characters, he still needs to get up close and personal if he wants to use any attacks other than his projectiles, which leads into his second issue of his mobility. While Young Link’s mobility is average overall, this average mobility can tend to clash with his combo oriented moveset. This can lead to situations where Young Link is simply too slow to continue a combo he has started. While Fire Arrows can help alleviate this by being used to “hold” opponents in hitstun while Young Link gets over to continue the combo, it is not ideal or even possible in all situations. Additionally, Young Link’s recovery, while much better than in Melee, is very exploitable. Due to Spin Attack only covering to the sides of him and not above, he is easily hit out of his recovery and edgeguarded by characters who can hit his head and now come into contact with the hitboxes as well as being vulnerable to characters with counters such as Lucina.

Though, none of these are Young Link’s biggest flaw which is his inconsistent KO ability. While some players may claim Young Link’s KO ability is flat out bad, this is not actually true. Many of his moves including all of his Smash Attacks, forward air, up air, and down air, all possess respectable knockback and can kill at average percentages at worst. What gives him difficulty KOing is his lack of an easy, reliable setup into these moves. The easy setups such as using bombs are not always reliable due to bombs having random knockback at times while the more difficult setups such as ZAir into Up Smash are reliable, but considerably more difficult to pull off due to the attacks themselves often being difficult to land because of Young Link’s small range, especially in the heat of a match. Stale moves also pose a huge threat to Young Link’s KO potential. While moves like forward and up air are very strong in combos, using them to wrack up damage will result in sacrificing them as reliable KO tools later on. As a result, Young Link players must be very vigilant of staling their moves and work to make sure they keep their kill moves as fresh as possible, more so than most other characters. This, when combined with a large number of combos and set ups that need to be memorized, causes Young Link to have a rather high learning curve, especially at top level play.

In summary, Young Link, despite appearing to be very similar to his descendants in terms of his moveset, has a completely unique design and playstyle unlike anybody else in the game. He possesses one of the best zoning and combo games in the cast, giving him the ability to play both hyper defensively and hyper aggressively and switch between the two playstyles on the fly to throw opponents off. However, he must remain very aware of how he uses his moves, as not to stale his finishers too soon, as well as be ready to react to any mistake an opponent makes at high percents in order to take a stock before an opponent’s percentage gets too high and it becomes difficult to KO them in a set-up. Despite rather low representation at top level, most likely due to his high learning curve and inconsistencies, Young Link is regarded as a high tier character, especially with the recent buffs to his KO power in 7.0.0, and the few top level players who have chosen to main him have proven his capability to preform well in tournaments.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

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 appearances. Furthermore, as Young Link is based off of Ocarina of Time rather than Twilight Princess, he is closest to Link’s appearances in Smash 64 and Melee. He retains moves and characteristics from Melee that Link himself no longer possesses, such as a rapid jab, his dash attack, and Hookshot. These changes further declones Young Link from Link, to the point that he is now a semi-clone, similarly to the changes Roy received in Super Smash Bros. 4.

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

Young Link's speed has been improved from Melee, not just in terms of his mobility, but also his attacks, as many of them have decreased startup and ending lag (such as neutral attack, forward and down tilts, and dash attack), and his aerials have heavily decreased landing lag (even compared to their L-canceled counterparts in Melee), improving his ability to land. Some of his moves have also been reworked to make them more reliable and effective, such as his up smash and his forward and back aerials, and the weakening of SDI heavily benefits his multi-hit attacks. His grab game has also been improved thanks to the universal changes to tether grabs, as they now have less ending lag and a longer duration. His forward throw also has increased knockback, giving him a new KOing option.

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

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

Although he has mostly received buffs, Young Link is not without some nerfs. In exchange for his now excellent combo ability, some of Young Link's attacks deal less damage (most notably his projectiles), now requiring him to string more hits in order to rack up more damage. A few of his attacks also have slightly increased startup and ending lag, while others have shorter durations, bringing them more in line with the rest of the cast. His aerial mobility is also slightly worse (especially when relative to the cast). Additionally, 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. In terms of gameplay changes, the changes to air dodging also hinder Young Link's mobility, as wavedashing and wavelanding are significantly less effective due to their increased landing lag. Some of Young Link's weaknesses from Melee also remain, most notably his below average range for a swordfighter (despite it improving in the transition) and his still limited KOing ability.

Overall, Young Link's gameplan has radically changed between both games, which has also resulted in a slight increase to his already high learning curve. Young Link now has reliable damage racking capabilities at all ranges, courtesy of an improved zoning game and a deceptively improved combo game that doesn't require use of his bombs, which now makes it easier for him to close in on the distance against other characters and harder for other characters to keep up with him, and he has less trouble at landing due to his aerials' lower landing lag. However, even with the higher knockback on some of his moves and his new hit confirms, his KOing ability remains below average, which combined with his short range means Young Link still has to take risks in order to KO the opponent. Regardless, Young Link is a significantly better character than he was in Melee, with a larger playerbase in competitive play consisting of players such as colinies, SKITTLES!!, Supahsemmie, T, Toast and Tweek, who have demonstrated Young Link's strong potential when mastered. As a result, Young Link is commonly considered to be a high tier character, though due to other characters receiving similar improvements such as Greninja, Mario, Pikachu, Palutena, Roy, R.O.B., and Wolf, his true tier placement remains debatable.

Aesthetics

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

Attributes

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

Ground attacks

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

Aerial attacks

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

Throws and other attacks

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

Special moves

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

Update history

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

1.2.0

• Fixed the Invisible Bomb glitch.

3.0.0

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

3.1.0

• Boomerang teleportation glitch fixed.

4.0.0

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

7.0.0

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

9.0.0

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

10.1.0

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

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.

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	A downward slash, followed by an outward slash, followed by a thrust. If button mashed, Young Link instead performs a rapid flurry of slashes before concluding with an upward slash. The standard neutral attack is based on the final series of strikes that he does to Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
			1.5%
			3.5%
			0.3% (loop), 2.5% (last)
Forward tilt			12% (base), 11% (tip)	A lunging downward slash. It resembles the Z-Targeting slash he uses in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It comes out on frame 10 with low ending lag, yet it has good power for its speed, making it a reliable KO option. However, the tip of the sword is a sour spot.
Up tilt			8%	An overhead arcing clash. A reliable combo starter that can combo into itself or in Young Link's aerials.
Down tilt			10% (base), 9% (middle), 7% (tip)	A kneeling inward slash. It has minimal knockback and launches the opponent vertically, allowing it to easily chain into all of his aerials at almost any percent, allowing for KO confirms into aerial Spin Attack and forward aerial. One of Young Link's best combo tools. it deals more damage closer to the base of the sword.
Dash attack			11% (base), 10% (tip)	A lunging downward slash. It comes out quickly at frame 8 without a large amount of ending lag, and it has decent power, giving it some KO power at the ledge. Just like other attacks, the tip of the Kokiri Sword deals less damage.
Forward smash			6%	A two-handed, lunging downward slash. If the attack button is pressed again, Young Link will perform a single-handed outward slash. The first hit deals almost no knockback but is a natural combo into the second hit, which deals powerful knockback. Is somewhat fast for a forward-smash, coming out on frame 15. Can be combo'd into from neutral aerial's late hit and aerial Hookshot.
			12% (base), 10% (tip)
Up smash			3% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3 base), 7% (hit 3 tip)	A series of three overhead arcing slashes, the last of which launches opponents vertically. Unlike in Melee, it is no longer capable of creating long juggles due to its increased lag and knockback, although this also makes it significantly more effective as a KO move. The first two slashes trap opponents, with the third hit launching them vertically. Decently powerful, but the move's long duration makes it easy to punish if whiffed. It was buffed in update 7.0., being noticeably stronger than before.
Down smash			13% (front base), 10% (front tip), 12% (back base), 9% (back tip)	A kneeling inward slash in front of himself, followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself. Both hits are semi-spikes, making them good for edge guarding, and is stronger from the front than from the back.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 5% (late)	A flying kick. It is a sex kick and one of the fastest aerials in the game at frame 4, making it a very good option to get opponents off of him. Additionally, it has extremely low landing lag, can autocancel in a short hop, and has a just as strong of an offense use, as the late hit can function both as a combo starter or can be used in the middle of a combo to lead into a variety of moves. It also has decent power, as it can KO at high percents when edgeguarding. Overall, it is commonly regarded as one of the best aerials in the game and is a vital part of Young Link's combo game.
Forward aerial			6% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2, base), 7% (hit 2, tip)	Two alternating, spinning outward slashes. The first hit traps opponents into the second hit, which deals reasonably high knockback, making it useful for knocking opponents offstage or killing them outright at higher percents. Landing on the ground after the first hit but before the second will cancel the move, allowing for a follow-up into a different attack. It can autocancel in a full hop.
Back aerial			5% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	A hook kick followed by a mid-level roundhouse kick. It comes out on frame 6 and has the lowest ending lag of his aerials. Functions similarly to his forward aerial, including the ability to drag-down foes with the first hit, but trades range and power for a reduced startup. Despite this, it possesses a somewhat disjointed hitbox, and its first hit can reliably KO into any of his smash attacks.
Up aerial			15% (clean), 12% (late)	The Up Thrust. It has a long active duration, and its high damage and knockback allow it to KO at around 130% with the clean hit, but despite that, it has a very fast startup at frame 5. However, its long active duration makes it punishable if not used carefully, and it has a strict autocancel window, as it can only autocancel in a double jump.
Down aerial			18% (clean), 15% (late)	The Down Thrust. Unlike Link's similar move, it does not meteor smash even with the clean hit. Deals high knockback, making it one of Young Link's most reliable aerial KO moves, but is dangerous to use offstage due to its long duration and high ending lag. Landing the clean hit on an opponent or their shield will cause Young Link to bounce upwards.
Grab aerial		Midair Hookshot	4%	Shoots his Hookshot forward. Can be used to grab stage ledges. As of update 7.0., it now has above-average hitstun and faster start-up, making it an excellent combo starter at nearly any percent, even allowing for KO confirms into up-smash, forward-smash, or forward aerial.
Grab		Hookshot	—	Fires his Hookshot straight forward. Functions as a tether grab and can be used for tether recovery. Like other tether grabs, it has higher lag than normal grabs in exchange for much longer range.
Pummel			1%	Quickly hits the opponent with the pommel of the Kokiri Sword.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	A jumping front kick. It is easily Young Link's strongest throw, and one of the strongest forward throws in the game, starting to KO middleweights around 130% from the edge of Final Destination, which makes it a reliable KO throw.
Back throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	A back kick. Launches at a high angle, but has a low ending lag and relatively low knockback growth, potentially leading into edge guard setups. It is also capable of KOing around 180% from the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Raises the opponent overhead and slashes them upward. It starts to KO around 190% on Final Destination. If the initial sword slash hits another opponent, they will be launched at a very low angle, allowing for edge guard setups. It has some combo potential at low-to-mid percents.
Down throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Pins the opponent to the ground and performs an elbow drop. It can be used as a combo starter, although not reliable as in Melee.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Climbs up the ledge and performs a slash.
Neutral special		Fire Arrow	4%-12%	Uses the Fairy Bow to fire a Fire Arrow. It can be charged up for more power and range. The arrows send opponents at an upwards angle with low knockback and high hitstun, making it a good aerial combo starter. In addition, it has low startup and ending lag, making it an excellent combo/spacing tool all around.
Side special		Boomerang	11% (close, normal throw), 13.2% (close, smash throw), 7% (far), 2% (return)	Throws his Boomerang forward. It can be angled diagonally and deals damage when returning to Young Link. It can combo into an aerial at most percents.
Up special		Spin Attack	1%-1.6% (grounded hits 1-10), 3%-4.8% (grounded hit 11), 3% (aerial hit 1), 2% (aerial hits 2-4), 3% (aerial hit 5)	A series of spinning, outward slashes. It has a very quick startup, making it a potent out-of-shield option. Just like the Spin Attack of the other two Link incarnations, it can be charged when grounded for more damage. Similarly to Toon Link's version of the move, it hits multiple times on the ground, with the final hit launching opponents. However, Young Link's version of the Spin Attack is different than the variants the other Links have: instead of dealing strong horizontal knockback, Young Link's Spin Attack deals weak vertical knockback, making it unviable as a KO tool but useful as a combo starter. The aerial version can carry opponents to the upper blast line, and KO them there at high enough percents.
Down special		Bomb	2%-2.4% (hits 1-4)	Pulls out a Bomb. Just like in Melee, the explosion from the bomb hits multiple times. The bomb explodes after hitting a surface or enemy, or after enough time passes. The bomb's weak knockback makes it useful as a combo starter. It can be used to extend Young Link's recovery, as the damage from the explosion will take him out of helplessness.
Final Smash		Triforce Slash	60%	Uses the Triforce of Courage to emit a thin beam of light from his left hand to stun an opponent in front of himself. If the beam comes in contact with an opponent, Link dashes forward and performs a barrage of slashes while they are trapped in a Triforce-shaped energy field before concluding with an outward slash that shatters the energy field and launches them and any bystanders.

On-screen appearance

• Descends onto the stage while surrounded by rays of blue light that shine down from the sky, referencing the Ocarina of Time's powers. Upon landing, he equips the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield. This is akin to his older self's on-screen appearance in SSB.

• 

  Young Link's on-screen appearance

Idle poses

• Looks around himself.
• Kicks the toes of his boots on the ground, as if knocking off the dirt.

• 

  Young Link's first idle pose

• 

  Young Link's second idle pose

Taunts

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

• 

  Young Link's up taunt.

• 

  Young Link's side taunt.

• 

  Young Link's down taunt.

Victory poses

• Left: While holding his sword in a reverse grip, adjusts his belt and flicks his nose. Based on one of Young Link's idle animations in Ocarina of Time.
• Up: Stabs forward 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.
• Right: 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

Young Link was met with a considerable amount of hype when he returned to the series after 17 years, last appearing in Melee. By the time Ultimate was released, there were high hopes for him due to his amazing combo game and damage racking potential from his projectiles. Tweek found success with the character in the early months of Ultimate, winning tournaments such as Glitch 6 and Frostbite 2019. Players believed that because of these strengths and strong results, Young Link was seen as a viable high-tier or top-tier character, and the best of the three Links. As time went on, players began discovering his weaknesses, which include inconsistent KO power and a linear, slow recovery, making him relatively easy to edgeguard. Tweek went on to drop the character in favor of Pokémon Trainer and Wario. As a result, Young Link was then seen as a high-tier or an upper-mid tier. In 2020, patch 7.0.0. was released, granting Young Link a multitude of buffs, which fixed his problem of KO'ing at higher percents and having a confirm off of his grab aerial, or z-air. This caused many to again consider him a competitive high-tier or top-tier and the best fighter from The Legend of Zelda. Because of this, coming out of nowhere, Toast amazed the crowd with his breakout performance at Frostbite 2020, placing 7th, taking sets off of many top players, including Samsora and Light.

In the online scene, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Young Link has a more prominent representation and a much stronger pick in Wi-Fi tournaments. His safe aerials and already strong projectiles are buffed online due to increased lag and reaction time being taken into account. Currently, the character's Wi-Fi meta is being represented by players such as SKITTLES!! and colinies.

Notable players

Active

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

•  Alphicans - Has a strong Young Link secondary. Placed 5th at The Pinnacle 2018 with solo Young Link, as well as 1st at Salt Flats 2019 and 9th at SKL: Prairie Pummel as one of his characters. Has wins over Jw, Lemmon, and Slime.
•  Biddy - The best Young Link player in Tri-state. Placed 4th at Player's Ball Ultimate, 13th at The Scarlet Classic V and 65th at both EVO 2019 and Glitch 7 - Minus World. Has wins over Wishes, LeoN, Suarez, Jul, Mew2King, and The Great Gonzales.
•  colinies - One of the best Young Link players in the United States. Placed 1st at Steel City Showdown, 3rd at COST 2019, and 17th at Collision 2019. Ranked 2nd on the Ohio Smash Ultimate Power Rankings.
•  Felker - One of the best Young Link players in Europe. Placed 13th at Le Colossel de M3R, 17th at European SEL Clash, 25th at both Stunfest 2019 and Syndicate 2019, and 49th at Ultimate Fighting Arena 2019. Has wins over Leon, Maeda, and WhYYZ.
•  Jdizzle - The best Young Link player in Australia. Placed 1st at BigWinChampionship 2, 3rd at Phantom 2019, and 7th at Expand Gong 4.
•  Kobe - One of the best active Young Link players in the world. Placed 13th at both Smash Conference United and Come to Papa 3, 33rd at GENESIS 6, and 49th at CEO 2019.
•  Kyros - Placed 7th at 2GG: All In and 65th at Frostbite 2020. Has wins over ChocoTaco, Aikota, Runes, ChillyChilli, BONK!, and Cyro.
•  Mr.R (#44) - Uses Young Link as a secondary. Placed 2nd at DreamHack Winter 2019 and 9th at 2GG: SwitchFest 2019 using mainly Young Link. Notably reverse 3-0'd Leffen with the character.
•  RFang (#45) - Co-mains Young Link and Pichu. Placed 5th at Clash Of The Carolinas III, 49th at GENESIS 7, and 65th at Frostbite 2020 using both characters.
•  SKITTLES!! - The best Young Link player in Nebraska. Placed 1st at PG Keys to EVO: Smash Ultimate Final Showdown, 9th at Paradigm Shift 2019, and 25th at Low Tier City 7. Ranked 1st on the Nebraska Ultimate Power Rankings and 24th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank.
•  SS - The best Young Link player in Arizona. Placed 2nd at Ascension II, 3rd at Ascension, and 9th at both Ascension III and Ascension IV.
•  Suinoko - The best Young Link player in Japan. Placed 9th at KVOxTSB 2019, 17th at Sumabato SP 4, 25th at Umebura Japan Major 2019, and 33rd at both EVO Japan 2020 and Umebura SP 3 with solo Young Link.
•  Supahsemmie - The best Young Link player in Europe. Placed 1st at Elysium: Yggdrasil and Lightning: Volume 3, 7th at The Ultimate Performance, and 13th at Syndicate 2019 and Valhalla III.
•  Toast - The best active Young Link player in the world. Placed 2nd at Just Roll With It! 12, 7th at Just Roll With It! 11, 2GG: Run it Back, and Frostbite 2020, 13th at Let's Make Big Moves, 17th at DreamHack Atlanta 2019, and 33rd at The Big House 9. Has wins over Raito, Kola, Light, Peabnut, Samsora, VoiD, Wishes, and MVD.
•  Zan - One of the best Young Link players in the United States. Placed 17th at both Heart of Battle and Ultimate Nimbus as well as 25th at both SoCal Chronicles and 2GG: Prime Saga. Has defeated Glutonny and Pandarian.

Inactive

•  T (#15) - Considered one of the best Young Link players in Japan. Placed 3rd at Midwest Mayhem Ultimate with solo Young Link, and 17th at 2GG: Prime Saga, and 25th at Umebura SP 2 in conjunction with Link. Although he hasn't officially dropped the character, he now only uses Link in brackets, and very rarely uses Young Link or any of his other characters anymore.
•  TripleAAA - Placed 9th at GGWP: Ultimate and 33rd at Elysium: Yggdrasil before switching to Palutena. Has defeated Beek and Akaraien with Young Link.
•  Tweek (#3) - Formerly the best Young Link player in the world. Placed 1st at Glitch 6 and Frostbite 2019 and 7th at 2GG: Prime Saga. Has wins over Nairo, WaDi, and Jakal.

Classic Mode: Hyrule Smash!

Young Link's congratulations screen.

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

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Zelda	Hyrule Castle	Hyrule Main Theme
2	Young Link	Temple	Song of Storms	If the player is using the Dark Young Link costume, the CPU player will be the default Young Link.
3	Sheik	Gerudo Valley (Ω form)	Gerudo Valley
4	Toon Link (x4)	Pirate Ship	The Great Sea / Menu Select	The multicolored Toon Links are a reference to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords sub-series.
5	Ganondorf	Bridge of Eldin (Ω form)	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
6	Link	Great Plateau Tower	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bonus Stage
Final	Ganon	Sacred Land	Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form

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

Role in World of Light

Finding Young Link in World of Light

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

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

Fighter Battle

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

Spirits

Young Link's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. 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.

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  176. Young Link

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  196. Epona

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  207. Deku Link

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  208. Fierce Deity Link

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

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

As a minion

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

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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

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  Young Link's amiibo.

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  Young Link's fighter card.

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  Young Link's unlock notice.

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  Young Link on Great Bay.

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  Tossing his Bomb at Wario on Castle Siege.

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  Idling with Toon Link's Fairy on Skyworld.

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  Drinking Lon Lon Milk with Inkling on Temple.

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

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  Tossing his Boomerang on Onett.

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

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  Carrying his Bomb with Bomberman on Temple.

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  Idling with Mario on Tomodachi Life.

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

Trivia

• Young Link's official artwork is based upon the pose he strikes after using his grounded Spin Attack.
• Young Link and Pichu share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate.
  • This has been noted by both of their Super Smash Bros. blog's "Today's Fighter" descriptions.
• Young Link's light blue costume gives him a pair of beige trousers. Although it may appear that his legs were just recolored, they use a different texture to look like clothing.
  • Similarly, Link's Twilight Princess and "Fierce Deity" costumes (being recolored from his Tunic of the Wild alternate costume, which exposes his knees), were colored in a way so that his trousers were indeed lengthened and not simply just recolored.
• Due to Young Link's hair having more physics-based movement, in certain animations such as taking damage, it's possible to see that his sideburns are not fully modeled under his hair.
  • Additionally, the cuffs of his boots is not fully modeled when looking at them from below.
• Young Link is among the few voiced fighters in Ultimate whose voice clips are recycled from their own games rather than specifically recorded for a Smash game. He shares this trait with Banjo & Kazooie, Daisy, Inkling, Rosalina & Luma, Sonic, Toon Link, Yoshi, Bowser Jr. and Min Min.
• An animation error is present in Young Link's up tilt; the Kokiri Sword rotates in his hand as he returns to his idle stance.
  • There's another animation error regarding his Hookshot in which the chain disconnects from the Hookshot during his pulling up animation after grabbing a ledge.
  • Additionally, certain animations such as one of his idle animations will cause his arm to clip through his shield.
• When Young Link activates his side taunt where Navi flies around his head, if the game is slowed down to 1/4 speed, she can be seen flying into her initial position from offscreen. This suggests that Navi's model is kept somewhere offscreen and changes location on activation of the taunt, however, when the taunt ends, she returns back into his hat like normal and does not appear to fly back offscreen.
• Young Link, Marth, Lucina, Roy, Chrom, and Wolf are the only characters that use their crouching animation from their previous Smash Bros. game when holding a small item.
  • Out of all of them, Young Link is the only one who's doesn't revert to his previous idle pose when holding a small throwable item.
• When performing a wall jump, Young Link does not directly touch the wall before the jump, which is best seen when wall jumping on the training stage.
• Young Link's Star KO voice clip, unusually, begins with a short pause.
  • This was also the case for his Star KO voice clip in Melee.
• In German, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (der Jonger Link). He shares this trait with Dark Pit.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Young Link's KO scream is a noticeably higher pitched version of one of his KO screams. He shares this trait with Inkling.
• Young Link is one of only five characters to predominantly use his left hand to wield his weapon, sharing this trait with Sephiroth, Toon Link, Ice Climbers, and Rosalina & Luma.