Smash Bros Zelda Characters

I know what you may be thinking. Hoorah, he's not dumping on TP this time!

It's true, I'm not dumping on TP in this article. Instead, I'm dumping on the Zelda Characters as they are in Brawl, because that's the more recent, ala, the most valid.

So hah!

So onto the article/rant/lunatic dribbling.

Okay, I have a problem with the Zelda Characters in Brawl. Mostly because half of them, the two that should be higher on the tier list are Link and Gannondorf. Those two are on the bottom tier due to move sets and other issues. But this is not their fault! This is that guy who designes Brawls fault...whose name I don't know.

Anyway, these are some suggestions that could hopefully take them straight to the top tier.


Naturally, I'll start with Link because he's the series main character. Really.

His perks: He does a lot of damage and his bow is really accurate. Spin attack is chargeable to do more damage. Bombs are awesome and the Gale Boomerang can be used to great effect to bring pesky chickens (like Sonic Players) straight to you. He's also a little hard to KO due to him being heavy.

His weakness's: Let's face it; his recovery moves stink (again, no fault of his own). His Hookshot was deliberately shortened from its appearance in TP (understandable, but come on! It's kind of useless now), his spin attack has little upward momentum and no side momentum and he falls really fast. He's far two easy to KO. Oh, and his bombs can be used against him.


Suggested Changes: Add a little bit of side momentum too the spin attack. Okay, a lot. Also, increase the range of the Hookshot from either double to triple. Make him fall a little slower and make it so that when other players besides Link pick up Links bombs, the bombs explode.

Gannondorf I'll start with next because Link beats him all the time.

His perks: The man is power incarnate. He has his share of the most powerful attacks in the game, more than one. He's heavy, so he's hard to KO. (I myself use him often because of this).

His Weaknesses: His recovery moves also suck. And frankly, his movesets don't make a whole lot of sense. In the games, he has a lightning-ball-like projectile, but in SSBB he does not have one. In the games he can hover, but in SSBB he can't. Warlock Punch makes no sense.

Suggested Changes: Give him the projectile. Seriously. Just give it to him. And give him the ability to hover to give him a better recovery chance.

Zelda and Shiek: Tell you the truth, I use these two often because the Mage/Rogue combo has always intrigued me. Always.

Okay, I have no other suggestions, unfortunately. (This is really unlike me...) So I'm mostly going to have to rely on you to make up some new suggestsions. Any for the Zelda characters?

Remember: Good Nerfing isn't making strong characters weaker: It's making weak characters stronger.

I think they did ok with Link. When I win with Link I feel proud since he's kinda slow... But I am NOT ok with Ganon. In Melee they made him an exact clone of Cpt Falcon, and they didn't change anything for brawl. It makes me mad that one of the most well known villains/characters in Nintendo history was reduced to a clone of Cpt Falcon, or anyone for that matter... Like you said Fulcon, they could have given him the projectile thing, maybe a trident or a sword or something, I don't know. He just bugs me in SSB.

My only problem with Zelda/Shiek is the running animation for Shiek. She is basically horizontal, and doesn't run fast enough for that to look ok... and maybe Shiek could use they knife she carries around, idk.

Toon Link is awesome! But I have to admit, its almost unfair how slow he falls and how high he jumps, haha. But I guess I won't complain since Zelda characters deserve the best! A Toon Zelda would have been cool though... just to even things out. Imagine Saria as a character! Or Darunia, or a Zora, even the Skull Kid. Maybe the next SSB will have tons of characters from all the games! But I doubt it.

Link's aerial attacks are actually slow, too. So he isn't really a threat if him and his opponent are in the air. Another thing I wish was that they made him a bit faster.

Ganondorf is just plain slow. His Final Smash is epic, however.

I also use Zelda the most in Brawl. Whenever I use her when playing with my friends, they keep getting pissed on her Din's Fire, and her Nayru's Love can reflect projectiles to keep them at bay. Sheik is a disappointment however. In Melee, she was stronger, and had a lot more hit to her aerial attacks, often acting as a finishing move on opponents.

I agree with you totally, UltraLight.

I use Zelda the most out of all of the Zelda Characters, though in general, what character I use depends on my mood.

I actually perfected a training regimen gauranteed to make you a master of the character (or just proficient if the characters low tier).

Originally Posted by Fulcon

Warlock Punch makes no sense.

WARLOCK PUNCH!!!



...or not.

Link was epic in Melee, but in Brawl he's just too slow.

I like Link in it. They had him exactly looking right as with TP. The clawshot, gale boomerang, Navi, and a lot of stuff he uses are very detailed.

Toon Link was cool! He's much faster than Link, and I can accept the less power he's got. I wish there were a cute Toon Zelda as well! That'd be so cute.

Ganondorf was really... kinda redundant for me. My brother often plays Captain Falcon, so I could see that their moves are pretty much the same. At least their taunts weren't.

Zelda is the one who I use all the time! My brothers get annoyed at her Din's Fire very much-- especially at Sudden Deaths, when I get the timing right and use their own Pitfalls against them, and when I transform into Sheik when they're about to launch me off stage. Speaking of Sheik, I don't use her pretty much. She's not ridiculously fast like Sonic (which is a good thing), but I can't handle her very well. And, I have to say, Zelda's got more power than Sheik.

They need to let Ganon use his sword. We're dealing with TP Ganon now people. Honestly what the heck were they thinking?!?! Lazy sequel programmers... grumble...

And they messed up their canon a lot. TP Link does not have Navi, and TP Zelda is not Sheik. (though Sheik is great)
It all points to one fact: the designers and programmers didn't want to get
off of their backsides and give the Zelda characters any new moves from what they had in Melee. Or even play TP as research. Or even ask the designers of TP how to keep their characters straight. Or do anything useful at all besides graphical upgrades. Do these people have any idea what they're doing?!?!

EDIT: BTW, shouldn't this thread be on the Spinoff board? It even says SmashBros on the board description. That may be why so few people are posting here.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

This is that guy who designes Brawls fault...whose name I don't know.

That would be Masahiro Sakurai.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

His weakness's: Let's face it; his recovery moves stink (again, no fault of his own).

Well, of course not, he isn't real. What do you mean by that?

Originally Posted by Fulcon

His Hookshot was deliberately shortened from its appearance in TP (understandable, but come on! It's kind of useless now),

Not really, I use it to grab onto ledges all the time and it still grapples in opponents to grab them.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

He's also a little hard to KO due to him being heavy.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

He's far two easy to KO.

So one of Link's pros is that he's hard to K.O., and one of his cons is that he's easy to K.O.?

Originally Posted by Fulcon

Also, increase the range of the Hookshot from either double to triple.

Are you serious? I thought it was a fine length to start with. Triple the range would reach across some entire stages.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

make it so that when other players besides Link pick up Links bombs, the bombs explode.

While I like being able to use Link's Bombs against him when I'm his combatant, I admit this is a good idea.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

In the games he can hover, but in SSBB he can't.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

And give him the ability to hover to give him a better recovery chance.

Technically, he does hover, in his taunt... But that would be awkward if he was one of the few flying characters in the game when he'd be the only one without wings. Also, I think he only hovers in OoT. TP Ganondorf wouldn't make it look as good.

Originally Posted by kingohma

TP Link does not have Navi, and TP Zelda is not Sheik. (though Sheik is great)

The fairy in Link's taunt is not Navi, it's the pointer from the Wii version. Well, honestly, I can't remember if Nintendo announced that feature with any reference to Navi or not.
And Sakurai said that Sheik is based off of an early design of the character from TP, so they have their reasons.

Interesting. I guess that does justify Sheik then. Sheik's a great character anyway. But the fairy thing sounds like a last minute add-on for the Wii.

Ah, well...can we get a mod or someone to move the thread to the spin-offs? I didn't see that catagory.

With Gandondorf I think I was told his moves are powerful versions of another character I forgot which.

Originally Posted by Fulcon

I know what you may be thinking. Hoorah, he's not dumping on TP this time!

It's true, I'm not dumping on TP in this article. Instead, I'm dumping on the Zelda Characters as they are in Brawl, because that's the more recent, ala, the most valid.

So hah!

So onto the article/rant/lunatic dribbling.

Okay, I have a problem with the Zelda Characters in Brawl. Mostly because half of them, the two that should be higher on the tier list are Link and Gannondorf. Those two are on the bottom tier due to move sets and other issues. But this is not their fault! This is that guy who designes Brawls fault...whose name I don't know.

Anyway, these are some suggestions that could hopefully take them straight to the top tier.


Naturally, I'll start with Link because he's the series main character. Really.

His perks: He does a lot of damage and his bow is really accurate. Spin attack is chargeable to do more damage. Bombs are awesome and the Gale Boomerang can be used to great effect to bring pesky chickens (like Sonic Players) straight to you. He's also a little hard to KO due to him being heavy.

His weakness's: Let's face it; his recovery moves stink (again, no fault of his own). His Hookshot was deliberately shortened from its appearance in TP (understandable, but come on! It's kind of useless now), his spin attack has little upward momentum and no side momentum and he falls really fast. He's far two easy to KO. Oh, and his bombs can be used against him.


Suggested Changes: Add a little bit of side momentum too the spin attack. Okay, a lot. Also, increase the range of the Hookshot from either double to triple. Make him fall a little slower and make it so that when other players besides Link pick up Links bombs, the bombs explode.

Gannondorf I'll start with next because Link beats him all the time.

His perks: The man is power incarnate. He has his share of the most powerful attacks in the game, more than one. He's heavy, so he's hard to KO. (I myself use him often because of this).

His Weaknesses: His recovery moves also suck. And frankly, his movesets don't make a whole lot of sense. In the games, he has a lightning-ball-like projectile, but in SSBB he does not have one. In the games he can hover, but in SSBB he can't. Warlock Punch makes no sense.

Suggested Changes: Give him the projectile. Seriously. Just give it to him. And give him the ability to hover to give him a better recovery chance.

This is just unnecessary whining. You're not pleased with the way they are so you want to change them? Every character has his weaknesses, it makes the game exciting. Deal with it.

Dude, don't you think that it's a little insulting that Link is under KIRBY of all people (I hate that Puffball) in terms of power? The guy deserves more. Really.

The only character I really have a problem with is Ganondorf, because I felt that he should have been allowed to use his sword like he does in Twilight Princess, and it's correct that a lot of his moves are stolen from Captain Falcon. I would have liked to see a little more effort with Ganondorf, but I am glad with how powerful they made him feel. Zelda/Sheik and Toon Link were good enough in my books, and Link was just a little too heavy, but that seems to compensate with Toon Link's light weight.

I'm still waiting for King Dodongo to be playable in the next smash brothers

Bow before the might of the King Dodongo!

Originally Posted by Fulcon

Make him fall a little slower and make it so that when other players besides Link pick up Links bombs, the bombs explode.

Why the hell would the other players pick up the bombs then?

Try this:

When the other player picks up the bomb, it has a 1/4 chance of exploding in their face.

Better. I like it.

I mostly use Link in SSBB, but I like all four Zelda characters.

Link. I never hit anything with the Clawshot, the people are always too far away, and if I'm in danger of falling, I use Spin Attack. I think Link is pretty good, he could be a bit faster, but whatever. Works fine the way he is. He can take damage and deal some pretty well too.

Ganondorf. I like him. I'm not very good with him because of the slowness, but it's still Ganondorf so... But I hate how they still didn't give him his own moveset! He has a sword, he taunts with it, whyyyyy didn't they let him use it? And what you said about the projectile magic shiny thing, that should definitely be there too. Come on lazy evil developers, it's Ganondorf, show some respect!

Zelda/Shiek. Zelda's awesome, Shiek unfortunately is weaker than in Melee. Oh well, she's/they're still one of my favourites. Sure Shiek has nothing to do with TP, but that doesn't matter, the transforming thing is unique and should stay, and this version of Shiek looks awesome.

Toon Link is the cutest <3 Not really much to say, I think they did a good job with him and... and he's cute ^^ That's all I need.

As far as I'm concerned, Ganondorf is good enough. His moves just need a little more range, and his recoveries need a little more... recovery.