Link (SSB18)

Link (リンク, Link) is a playable character from Super Smash Bros. OC 2018. He is the second Nintendo Character to be added into Smash and the Second of the Original 8 to be added in (The first being ). He is also the very first swordfighter to be added in as well.
==Attributes==
Link is a heavyweight and the majority of his attributes are largely reflective of his weight class. His only attribute that is atypical of a heavyweight is his walking speed, which is above average. Link possesses two shields instead of just one. In Link's case, he wields the Hylian Shield, which blocks opposing projectiles if he is standing still or walking. Link also wields his respective version of the Master Sword, which grants him good range, a disjointed hitbox and above average strength, the latter of which is most evident in his forward tilt, smash attacks, dash attack and Spin Attack. However, his forward, up and down aerials also boast impressive power while possessing certain traits: his forward and down aerials can hit twice, his up aerial has a long-lasting hitbox, and his down aerial can meteor smash. Link also has a kill throw in his up throw along with his down throw being a setup to his powerful up aerial.
Link is one of the handful of characters in SSB18 with a tether grab, with his Clawshot being a useful supplement to his zoning, combo and recovery potentials. Although its damage output has been lowered since Brawl, Clawshot still boasts impressive range, has no landing lag and comes out even faster than before. It also assists his combo game, due to his down throw's impressive combo potential. Lastly and most importantly, Clawshot is a pivotal part of Link's recovery, especially due to his sluggish mobility.
Link's special moves all have their uses. Hero's Bow is a strong option against characters who struggle at approaching and is good for providing long-ranged pressure. Gale Boomerang is a decent spacing option and has follow-up potential upon contact or via its wind-based drag effect. Gale Boomerang's drag effect also grants it gimping potential in the form of Gale Guarding. Spin Attack's overall recovery distance has noticeably improved since Brawl, while its already impressive power has been further increased, which in turn improves its KO potential or as a way to punish rolls. However, Link's Bomb is perhaps the most versatile weapon within his arsenal due to its utility. Throwing a Bomb at a foe can cause enough hitstun to help Link's approach and/or set up combos. Conversely, if the opponent shields it, the Bomb simply bounces off, allowing it to be used for spacing. Even holding a Bomb long enough for it to explode can be useful; while doing so damages Link, it gives him a small vertical boost and removes him from being helpless, aiding his recovery and/or allowing him to break out of combos. Bomb can also be super glide tossed, which noticeably supplements his mobility. Additionally, Link is one of only two characters (the other being ) that is capable of super glide tossing forward and being capable of generating an item to utilize it. When combined with the overall fastest item throw animations in the game, Link's Bomb allows him to pressure opponents at a deceptively fast speed.
Despite his benefits, Link retains some of his flaws from his previous appearances. Even though his recovery has been noticeably improved after formerly being one of his most significant flaws in SSB and Brawl, it still limits how far he can go offstage safely. Link is also still susceptible to combos from faster characters, such as Sheik. As a result, he must make good use of reads, spacing and camping to avoid giving the advantage to such characters. To this end, his neutral aerial is a sex kick that allows him to break out of many combos, and is therefore one of his most useful moves, however, it still isn't particularly fast despite being one of his fastest moves. As a tether, his grab is quite slow and punishable when whiffed. In addition, Link's KO potential is hindered by lag, particularly in regard to his forward tilt, dash attack, forward aerial and down aerial.
==Moveset==
Attack 	Name 	Damage 	Description
Neutral Attack 	 	2%, 3%, 5% 	Slashes downwards vertically, then upwards before thrusting forward.
Side Tilt 	 	13% 	A downward slash. It has moderate start-up lag, but has good range and knockback.
Up Tilt 	 	9% 	An upwards overhead crescent slash.
Down Tilt 	 	11% 	A downwards crescent slash that launches opponents upwards. It can also meteor smash opponents when they are trying to recover.
Dash Attack 	Jump Attack 	13% (non-tip), 14% (tip) 	A jumping downwards slash forward.
Side Smash 	 	7%, 13% (uncharged), 9%, 17% (fully charged) 	A lunging downward slash. The Master Sword's base has extremely minimal knockback, which enables it to naturally combo into an optional second hit. The first hit deals good damage and knockback when tipped, while the second hit deals greater knockback.
Up Smash 	 	4%, 3%, 11% (uncharged), 5%, 4%, 16% (fully charged) 	Three overhead arcing slashes. The first two hits naturally combo into each other, while the third hit finishes the combo. Can KO before 100%.
Down Smash 	 	16% (front, uncharged), 11% (back, uncharged), 19% (front, fully charged), 16% (back, fully charged) 	A crouching outward slash in front of himself and then behind himself. The first hit launches opponents at a vertical trajectory while having slightly increased damage and knockback the closer one is to Link. Conversely, the second hit is a powerful semi-spike with slightly increased damage and knockback on the Master Sword's blade.
Neutral aerial 	 	11% 	Link performs a flying kick.
Forward aerial 	 	11% (Hit 1), 13% (Hit 2) 	Two alternating outward slashes while spinning 360˚. The first hit has more knockback, while the second hit can only connect if the first hit does not or if the opponent has low damage. Has good KOing potential.
Back aerial 	 	3% (Hit 1), 5% (Hit 2) 	A back kick followed by a mid-level roundhouse kick. Link's fastest aerial and has very little landing lag, but deals low damage compared to his other moves.
Up aerial 	Up Thrust 	15% (clean), 13% (late) 	A leaping upward thrust used by the Link from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It has moderate landing lag unless used alongside a full hop. It is quite powerful and has a long-lasting hitbox that is difficult to dodge, making it a good KOing and juggling option.
Down aerial 	Down Thrust 	15% (early), 18% (clean), 15% (late), 11% (bounce) 	A leaping downward thrust used by the Links in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It is possible for Link to "bounce" on opponents into a second hit, provided he is not fast falling. The early hit is a powerful meteor smash. Has a strong non-meteor smash hitbox afterward that is capable of KOing under 130%. However, it is more difficult to land the clean hit than the early hit, as it requires Link to hit with the rising hilt during its start-up, or immediately after the early hit, but before the weak hit.
Grab 	 	- 	Shoots out his claw to grab the opponent.
Pummel 	 	2% 	Jabs the opponent with the hilt of his master sword.
Forward Throw 	 	7% 	Brings his opponent close to him and kicks them in the chest forward.
Back Throw 	 	3% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) 	A back kick.
Up Throw 	 	5% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2) 	Drags his opponent above him and slashes their chest upwards
Down Throw 	 	3% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2) 	Pins the opponent to the ground and then performs an elbow drop. It can combo reliably into his up tilt, up smash and aerial attacks.
Neutral Special	Hero's Bow 	4% (uncharged), 12% (fully charged) 	Equips his Hero's Bow and fires an arrow forward. Charging increases the speed, distance and damage dealt by an arrow; at full charge, the arrow flies almost completely straight and covers a very long distance. Good for gimping recoveries or simply pressuring opponents from afar.
Side Special 	Gale Boomerang	7% (near), 5% (middle), — (far/return) 	Throws the Gale Boomerang that flies forward and returns to him. It damages opponents as it flies away and drags opponents toward Link during its return. It can be angled up or down, while a smash throw (which is similar to when performing the input for a smash attack) increases the distance it can travel. Unlike Boomerang, a reflected Gale Boomerang is not threatening to Link, as it will only fly past him with its non-damaging windbox.
Up Special 	Spin Attack 	14% (grounded, uncharged), 22% (grounded, fully charged), 4% (aerial hit 1), 2% (aerial hits 2-8), 4% (aerial hit 9)	Spins around to perform a powerful slash. This move functions differently on the ground and in the air. A grounded Spin Attack is akin to most The Legend of Zelda games, and functions similarly to a smash attack with great knockback. Conversely, an aerial Spin Attack is used as a recovery move, which grants Link great vertical distance and can hit the opponent up to eight times.
Down Special 	Bomb 	5% 	Pulls out a Bomb. It explodes 220 frames (3 2/3 seconds) after being pulled out, or upon making contact with a surface, an opponent, or an attack. The explosion can hurt Link, unless it hits an opponent first. When used skillfully, the explosion can remove Link from helplessness and thus allow him to perform an extra Spin Attack, improving his recovery. Oddly, it will deal more damage when it hits the opponent's feet.
Final Smash 	Triforce Slash	1% (hit 1), 3% (hits 2-15), 2% (hit 16), 15% (hit 17) 	Emits a beam of light from the Triforce of Courage symbol on the back of his hand to stun an opponent in front of him. If the beam comes in contact with an opponent, Link dashes forward and slashes them repeatedly while they are trapped in a Triforce-shaped energy field, with the last hit being a powerful slash that launches the trapped opponent away. Can hit multiple opponents, but all non-trapped opponents are launched out the energy field after the penultimate hit.
===On-screen appearance===
*Appears from within a whirlwind and equips the Master Sword and Hylian Shield. It may be based on the warping animation seen upon using the Recorder.
===Taunts===
*Up: Swings the Master Sword twice and twirls it behind him before sheathing it. This is similar to his victory pose in Twilight Princess, which he performs after learning a Hidden Skill or defeating a boss or particularly difficult enemies.
*Side: Link takes out a fairy from his pocket, which proceeds to fly around him as he watches it until it returns to his pocket. This taunt references how fairies have been guides for Link in the Zelda series. While it is mainly based off the fairy cursor seen in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, the fairy is likely a reference to Link's fairy companion Navi from Ocarina of Time.
*Down: Link assumes a Fujian White Crane-like stance while rearing the Master Sword behind his head. It originates from SSB and may be loosely based on the attacking pose used by the Link from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
===Idle poses===
*Assumes a battle ready stance.
*Looks behind himself.
===Victory poses===
*Swings the Master Sword three times and then looks to the right. It is his "character chosen" animation in SSB, albeit ending with him facing a different direction.
*Swipes the Master Sword once, twirls it behind his head, then sheathes it while looking at the camera. Like his up taunt, it is based on his victory pose from Twilight Princess.
*Link thrusts the Master Sword forward, holds it up to his face, then thrusts it to the sky while letting out a kiai.
==Trophies==
==Palette Swaps / Alternate Costumes==
==Trivia==