Zelda (SSB4)

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

Zelda (ゼルダ, Zelda) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was announced on December 26, 2013, the date on which The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was released in Japan.

Her voice actress is Jun Mizusawa, who voiced her in Melee, Brawl, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess.

Changes from Brawl

Zelda has recieved a mix of buffs and nerfs going into SSB4. Her forward and up smashes now have increased SDI multipliers (with the latter being crippled far more than the former), and her KOing ability was toned down (though she's still a strong character), such as her up tilt completely losing all its KO potential, and the base knockback of her Lightning Kicks reduced. Instead, she recieved Farore's Wind being a strong kill move while being very risky. At mid percents as early as 40%, it can kill by comboing into itself which we call it The Elevator. Her moves also have less range overall. Zelda, however, receives an effective albeit short ranged projectile in Phantom Slash, and her down throw becoming more effective for follow ups and her ground speed and air speed has been improved. Her up tilt, though it only improves her combo potential slightly, is better for her follow-ups and juggling at very low percentage. However, she also lost her ability to transform into Sheik.

Aesthetics

Albeit with general graphical updates, Zelda did not get any notable appearance changes. She still sports her design from Brawl, which itself was based of her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Attributes

• Zelda can no longer Transform into Sheik, with the latter becoming her own separate character.
• Zelda has a new air dodge animation and sidestep pose. The former is now a pose similar to Zero Suit Samus's air dodge's pose and the latter now resembles Peach's.
• Zelda's up taunt has a different animation.
• Zelda walks and dashes faster.
• Zelda has higher air speed.

Ground attacks

• Jab now connects reliably and starts combos.
• Dash attack now has a sweetspot with very good horizontal knockback.
• Forward tilt, down smash, and up smash have less range.
• Forward tilt no longer sends opponents backwards, improving its K.O. potential but removing its combo potential with her back Lightning Kick.
• Forward tilt has new visual effects to match its slash effect.
• Up and down tilts deal less damage.
• Up tilt has drastically lower knockback, no longer K.O.ing until 200%.
• Up tilt is now faster. It can also juggle and follow up at very low percentage.
• Forward smash and up smash have increased SDI multipliers, significantly reducing the former's already poor utility and completely removing the latter's comboing ability by juggling with it.
• Up smash is weaker, KOing opponents at about 120% when uncharged.
• Down smash is slightly weaker and lost the intangibility on her leg.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial has a smaller hitbox.
• Both Lightning Kicks (forward and back aerial) base knockback have been reduced. They also have significantly longer landing lag.
• Due to a change in the Lightning Kick's hitbox placement, they are now much easier to land.
• Both Lightning Kicks have different animations.
• Up aerial deals less knockback than in Brawl.
• Down aerial's sweetspot has a bigger hitbox and can now land on grounded opponents.

Throws/other attacks

• Down throw now has fire graphics added to its magic graphics, similarly to Ness's down throw.
• Down throw now send opponents at a 100° angle, giving it more follow-up options.
• The removal of hitstun cancelling allows her to set up early percent combos into her up tilt or few other follow-up options from her up throw.

Special moves

• Nayru's Love has significantly less ending lag.
• Nayru's Love no longer always swirls a trapped target to the front of Zelda. It now always repels them away for its ending, forward or backward.
• Nayru's Love deals less damage.
• Din's Fire now needs to be sweetspoted in order for it to properly kill, and its circumference was changed to a sizable sourspot, making it far more unwieldly to control. Its vertical range, horizontal range, and hitbox size have been reduced. It also must travel a set distance and time away from Zelda before it can be detonated, leaving her open. It can no longer explode adjacent to her, but must travel one explosion's length away. Overall, with these changes, Din's Fire takes more skill to use properly than Brawl's version of the move.
• Farore's Wind deals more damage, travels farther, has significantly less start-up lag, and is now very effective at KOing upon reappearing. it can KO heavy characters at about 60%.
• The re-appearance hitbox is no longer fire-based, instead having a slash effect.
• The re-appearance hitbox of Farore's Wind now has a sourspot that deals less damage.
• To replace Transform, Zelda has a new down special move called Phantom Slash, where she summons a Phantom Armor that shoots out like a projectile, before materialising and attacking. It can also block attacks, and it can be charged to summon the Phantom at farther distances; the Phantom can be reflected as well.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2% (hits 1-3)
Forward tilt			12% (hand), 10% (arm)
Up tilt			7.2%
Down tilt			4.5%
Dash attack			12% (clean base), 9% (clean tip), 6% (late)
Forward smash			1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5)
Up smash			2% (hits 1-4), 0.8% (hits 5-7), 5% (hit 8)
Down smash			12% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)
Neutral aerial			2% (hits 1-4 back), 1% (hits 1-4 front), 3% (hit 5)
Forward aerial		Lightning Kick	20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)	Sweetspot KOs at 91%.
Back aerial		Lightning Kick	20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)	Sweetspot KOs at 87%.
Up aerial			15%
Down aerial			16% (clean), 5% (late leg), 4% (late foot)
Grab			—
Pummel			3%
Forward throw			12%
Back throw			11%
Up throw			11%
Down throw			1% (hits 1-4), 2% (throw)
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups		Quick Kick	7%
Neutral special	Default	Nayru's Love	2% (loop front), 1% (loop back), 5% (last front), 4% (last back)	Creates a crystal that slashes enemies and reflects projectiles.
	Custom 1	Nayru's Rejection	1% (loop), 5% (last)	Weaker overall but reverses opponents and pushes them away.
	Custom 2	Nayru's Passion	15%	Sucks in opponents and explodes; does not reflect.
Side special	Default	Din's Fire		A controllable projectile that explodes on release.
	Custom 1	Din's Flare		Faster, cannot be moved vertically, and deals the same damage regardless of how long it is held.
	Custom 2	Din's Blaze		Much more vertical movement and explosion size, but slower to detonate.
Up special	Default	Farore's Wind	6% (hit 1), 10% (ground hit 2 near), 7% (ground hit 2 far), 12% (ground hit 2 near), 8% (ground hit 2 far)	Teleports in a given direction, dealing damage at both ends.
	Custom 1	Farore's Squall	0%	Has more range but deals no damage, simply pushing opponents away.
	Custom 2	Farore's Windfall	4% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Can only teleport straight up, but meteors opponents on reappearance.
Down special	Default	Phantom Slash	6% (uncharged), 8% (charged), 3% (fully charged hit 1), 5% (fully charged hit 2)	Propels a Phantom forwards that slashes enemies and blocks attacks.
	Custom 1	Phantom Breaker	5% (uncharged), 7% (charged), 2% (fully charged hit 1), 4% (fully charged hit 2)	Travels a set distance and deals more shield damage.
	Custom 2	Phantom Strike	8% (uncharged), 10% (charged), 5% (fully charged hit 1), 7% (fully charged hit 2)	Doesn't travel any distance but deals more damage.
Final Smash		Light Arrow	1% (hit 1), 39% (throw)	Fires a beam of light sideways that deals significant damage.

Victory Fanfare

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

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Melee: Zelda is one of the eight opponents that must be fought in this event. These eight characters debut in Melee, and reappear in Smash 4.
• Identity Crisis: As Sheik the player must defeat Samus. After defeating her, the player must defeat Zero Suit Samus. Zelda can appear if Sheik dies.
• Princess Punch-Up!: As Zelda with Link as a CPU ally, the player must defeat a team of Peach and Mario.
• The Demon King and the Goddess: As Ganondorf, the player must defeat a team of Link and Zelda. After the two are defeated or some time has passed, Giant Palutena appears and the player must defeat her.
• Unwavering Chivalry: As Meta Knight, the player must defeat Marth without defeating Peach or Zelda. Defeating any of the princesses results in a failure.

Co-op Events

• Peach in Peril: Zelda is one of the opponents Bowser and Bowser Jr. must defeat without KOing Peach.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players choose a character and must defeat everyone on the roster.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. 4 trophy descriptions

Zelda's regular trophy can be obtained by completing Classic Mode and her alternative trophy can be obtained by completing All-Star mode.

Zelda

This is the namesake of the Legend of Zelda games. Her appearance may change, but she always plays an important role. In Smash Bros., she's quick on the draw when it comes to magic, though a bit slow when moving. She has a new move that summons a Phantom to her aid.

Zelda (Alt.)

Zelda's forward air attack, Lightning Kick, is a valiant kick with a magically charged tip. Striking with just the glowing spot will deal heavy damage and launch your opponent. Din's Fire, her explosive side special, can be guided up and down and has a greater blast if the button is held.

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  Classic (3DS)

• ZeldaAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

Update history

1.0.4

• Up tilt damage: 6.5% → 7.2%
• Pivot grab z-offset: -4.0 – -18.7 → -4.0 – -15.7 (less range)

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Zelda in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Zelda's amiibo.

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  The pic of the day shown during Zelda's reveal

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  Zelda's appearance

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  Zelda and Link in the 3DS version

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  Zelda using Phantom Slash to strike Fox

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  Zelda next to Link summoning Navi

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  A pose

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  Zelda and Donkey Kong

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  Zelda teetering in front of Rosalina

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  Another pose

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  Zelda near a knocked down Link

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  Zelda Behind Link and Peach

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  Zelda's forward tilt, Note the new slashing effect

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  Zelda performing her wave taunt to Mario and Mega Man

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  Zelda with Toon Link

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  Farore's Wind

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  Side taunt

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  Neutral air

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  Zelda watching Link and Peach

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  Neutral air with Samus

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  Down taunt with Toon Link

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  Neutral air with Rosalina

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  Jab

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  Posing with Donkey Kong and Samus

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  Zelda and Link

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  Being attacked by Marth

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  Yet another pose

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  With Olimar and a Yellow Pikmin

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  Zelda and Mega Man's forward smash attacks

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  Peach, Zelda, and Rosalina

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  Zelda jumping away from Mario

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  Standing

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  More posing

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  Laying down with a Purple Pikmin

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  Even more posing

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  Zelda in the 3DS version

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  Another 3DS screenshot

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  Posing in the 3DS version

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  Using her jab on Samus

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  End of forward smash

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  Zelda, with King Dedede and Peach

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  "Curiouser and curiouser ..."

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  "Ah--soft and squishy." [1]

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  Battling Rosalina as Viridi approaches from the back.

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  Zelda using Din's Fire on Toon Link in SSB4.

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  Zelda using Phantom Slash only to miss Yoshi doing his forward tilt.

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  Back-to-back with Sheik.

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  Zelda being attacked by a Polar Bear in Smash Run.