Toon Link (PM)

Toon Link is one of the many playable characters in the Brawl mod Project M. His moveset is heavily altered from Brawl, mixing in elements from both 's and Smash 64 's movesets. 
Toon Link ranks 21st out of 41 on the official tier list, at the midst of the B tier. This is a considerable drop from his Brawl placement, where he ranked 13th out of 38. In the official Project+ tier list, he places even lower, falling to 30-31 of 42 characters, now residing near the bottom of B-tier.
==Attributes==
In Project M, Toon Link was substantially decloned and now fights with a mashup of moves taken from other Links, including the original Super Smash Bros. Link, Young Link from Melee, and some of his other incarnations from the Legend of Zelda series. Toon Link also received minor buffs to his existing Brawl moves, allowing him to have better KO options in addition to his characteristic camping capabilities and fast swordplay.
Approaching Toon Link remains a difficult task, and each of his tools have been tweaked to make them better suited for heckling opponents in different situations. His bombs hit multiple times, have excellent damage potential, and up to three can exist at once, making them great for covering an approach or disrupting an opponent's. His bow behaves like Young Link's, and trades some damage and distance capabilities for fiery arrows that stick into the floor and damage foes that contact them, which enhances his stage control. His boomerang, which also behaves like Young Link's, allows him to cover more angles and deals very high damage when hitting foes at point-blank range. These reworked projectiles allow Toon Link to have coverage options for foes at any range. 
Most of Toon Link's sword moves have received damage and knockback buffs, and others were replaced with new ones. The third hit of his jab combo, inspired by an attack from the thrust combo from Wind Waker, now moves him forward and ends quickly, letting him begin the combo again and repeatedly push foes backward. His dash attack and new forward-smash also serve the purpose of helping Toon Link gain ground, and the latter covers a wide area while protecting Toon Link from incoming attacks or recoveries. Together with his projectiles, Toon Link's sword moves provide him with a fierce edgeguarding game.
However, Toon Link suffers from recovery problems that he did not have in Brawl. His aerial up-special, while a powerful finishing move that now hits just once, lacks the recovery capabilities it used to have. Toon Link now also weighs the same as Young Link did in Melee, a substantial drop in weight that hinders his survivability and makes Toon Link capable of being KOed in just a few hits. Although Project M has diversified his recovery options with new tether mechanics and the aerial glide toss in conjunction with bomb recovery, getting Toon Link back on stage is often time-consuming and easy for edgeguarding opponents to predict and exploit. 
Thus, as in Brawl, Toon Link must rely on his projectiles to soften up opponents before using his fast movement and attacking speed to overwhelm them. While his camping power allows him to make mistakes when foes are at range, he must finish foes in close combat quickly and accurately, especially when he is edgeguarding, as his own predictable recovery and light weight make it easy for foes to reverse the match and KO him. 
==Changes from Brawl to PM==
Toon Link has seen a mix of buffs and nerfs from the transition from Brawl to Project M. He has been significantly reworked with some of his moves being based on although he was mainly changed to more closely resemble . Toon Link overall has greater KO potential and his specials were re-purposed to give him greater stage control. He also has greater combo potential as the removal of hitstun canceling, the universally increased falling speeds and the introduction of L-canceling have given him much more potent juggling. 
He has seen some nerfs however. His horizontal endurance is significantly worse as he is lighter and his recovery is much worse. His double jump and his Spin Attack cover much less distance making him easier to edgeguard while making it much riskier for him to edgeguard. His grab aerial is also a worse spacing and combo tool as while it has more range, it has much more landing lag which hinders its safety and combo potential. His mobility has also been reduced in some ways as his ground speed is worse, he has worse air acceleration and his traction is much higher which makes his new wavedash cover a shorter distance compared to a majority of the cast.
Overall, Toon Link remains a solid character who maintains his strong zoning tools with even greater kill power at the cost of his endurance.
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===Attributes===
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===Grabs and Throws===
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===Special Moves===
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==Changes from PM to P+==
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==Revisions==
===v2.1===
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===v2.5b===
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===v2.6b===
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===v3.0===
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===v3.5===
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===v3.6β===
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===v3.6===
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**Prior to the closing of Project M website, between the releases of v3.6β and v3.6 there was a bug fix posted on the site specifically for this glitch.
==Moveset==
Up to date as of version 3.6.
 	 	Name 	Damage 	Description
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	2% 	Toon Link swings his sword downwards, spins around in a circle and swings his sword in front of him, then swings his sword upwards while jumping.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	3% 	Toon Link swings his sword downwards, spins around in a circle and swings his sword in front of him, then swings his sword upwards while jumping.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	5% 	Toon Link swings his sword downwards, spins around in a circle and swings his sword in front of him, then swings his sword upwards while jumping.
Forward tilt 	Forward tilt 	 	10% (body), 11% (blade), 12% (tip) 	Toon Link does an overhead sword swing downwards. The beginning of the attack can hit enemies behind him.
Up tilt 	Up tilt 	 	9% 	Toon Link does a quick overhead swipe. It acts similarly to his up smash, except being slightly faster and less powerful. The knockback from this move is almost entirely vertical, and it is usually possible to combo into itself at low percentages.
Down tilt 	Down tilt 	 	9% 	Toon Link kneels and stabs his sword outward. There is an electric hitbox on the tip of the sword that meteor smashes opponents. This attack is similar in appearance to Marth's down-tilt.
Dash attack 	Dash attack 	 	10% (clean), 8% (late) 	Toon Link lunges forward, holding his sword in front of him. If a clean hit is scored, it will send enemies at a semi-spike trajectory, making it a powerful edgeguarding tool. This move also has a late hitbox, punishing opponents that recover high trying to avoid an edgeguard.
Forward smash 	Forward smash 	 	 	Toon Link spins his sword once behind, then leaps forward while swinging his sword above his head, similar to a jump attack from the Zelda series. It is very powerful, has great range, and sends opponents at a good angle, but it has significant start-up. This move is very effective against opponents with hard-to-sweetspot recoveries like Ness's.
Up smash 	Up smash 	 	 	Toon Link swings his sword above his head. It is a slower, more powerful version of up tilt. It can be used as an effective juggling tool against some characters, but it doesn't KO until relatively late.
Down smash 	Down smash 	 	Front: (blade), (body)Back: 	Toon Link quickly sweeps the sword across the ground in front and then behind him. The first hit of this move has higher knockback than the second hit. This move is a good horizontal KO move due to its good speed, decent knockback, and nice knockback angle.
Neutral aerial 	Neutral aerial 	 	12% (front), 9% (back) 	Toon Link quickly slashes on both sides, front then back, in midair. It is an excellent move to SHFFL, and is also a good shield pressure option.
Forward aerial 	Forward aerial 	 	14% (blade), 11% (arm), 8% (body) 	After a very brief delay, Toon Link swings his sword upwards. It serves as a good combo finisher due to its good knockback. The sword's tip deals more knockback than the other parts of the move.
Back aerial 	Back aerial 	 	10% 	Toon Link quickly slashes backwards with his sword. This is a very good combo move, sending opponents above and behind Toon Link and can lead into another aerial attack.
Up aerial 	Up aerial 	 	15% (clean), 12% (late) 	The Up Thrust, a leaping upward thrust used by the Link from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It has very long lasting hitboxes which can makes it a strong combo extender.
Down aerial 	Down aerial 	 	14% (clean blade), 16% (clean body), 17% (late blade), 21% (late body), 8% (bounce hit) 	Toon Link grips onto the handle of his blade and thrusts it downwards, based off the downwards thrust from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The hilt of the sword has a powerful hitbox that applies a strong effect onto the opponent while spiking them, while the other hitboxes have very powerful vertical knockback. If an opponent or shield is hit, the player will 'bounce' off with the sword and potentially hit multiple times, dealing lower damage and fixed, light knockback.
Grab aerial 	Grab aerial 	 	4% 	Toon Link uses his Hookshot while in the air. It is useful for spacing due to its long range, and can be useful as an alternate recovery option. This move can also be used while Toon Link is holding a bomb, allowing him to recover with a bomb in his hands.
Grab 	Grab 	 	— 	Toon Link extends his Hookshot forward to grab foes from afar.
Pummel 	Pummel 	 	3% 	Toon Link hits his opponents with the hilt of his sword.
Forward throw 	Forward throw 	 	3% (hit 1), 4% (throw) 	Toon Link shoves his opponent forwards using his shoulder. It is a good DI mixup; if the opponent doesn't DI correctly, allowing for an aerial or up special followup.
Back throw 	Back throw 	 	3% (hit 1), 4% (throw) 	Toon Link rolls backward and flings the opponent behind him. This throw does not cause tumbling until mid-percents.
Up throw 	Up throw 	 	5% (hit 1), 2% (throw) 	Toon Link tosses his opponent upward and hits them with his sword. This throw has high base knockback, making it an effective combo starter until very high percents.
Down throw 	Down throw 	 	2% (hit 1), 4% (throw) 	Toon Link slams his opponent against the ground. It can be a very effective combo starter on all characters, leading into many different moves.
Floor attack (front)	Floor attack (front)	 	6% 	Toon Link does two quick swipes to either side of him.
Floor attack (back) 	Floor attack (back) 	 	6% 	Toon Link does another two quick swipes to either side of him.
Floor attack (trip) 	Floor attack (trip) 	 	5% 	Essentially the same as his other two floor attacks.
Edge attack (fast) 	Edge attack (fast) 	 	8% 	Toon Link pulls himself up into a front flip and slices downward.
Edge attack (slow) 	Edge attack (slow) 	 	10% 	Toon Link slowly climbs up and stabs in front of himself.
Neutral special 	Neutral special 	Hero's Bow 	6-11%, 3% (grounded arrows) 	Toon Link pulls out a bow and shoots a fiery arrow. Holding the special button will charge the attack, increasing the damage and distance of the arrow. The arrows stick into the stage, dealing small damage with no knockback to any opponents that walks over it. The arrow's low trajectory can be used to hinder opponent's recovery and apply pressure to an offstage opponent, potentially leading to an easy edgeguard.
Side special 	Side special 	Boomerang 	19% (close), 7% (far), 3% (return) 	Toon Link throws his trusty boomerang out in front of him. The boomerang can be angled sideways, diagonally upwards, or diagonally downwards. If the boomerang hits an opponent right at the start of the move, it will deal increased damage and knockback. Toon Link can only have one boomerang out at a time; if this special move is used while Toon Link already has a boomerang out, the animation will play but Toon Link will not throw a boomerang.
Up special 	Up special 	Spin Attack 	0-1% (uncharged hits 1-11), 3% (uncharged hit 12) 17% (air clean), 14% (air mid), 4% (air late)	Toon Link spins around while holding his sword out. When used on the ground, it is a very damaging multi-hit move, and in the air it is a powerful finisher which decreases in damage over time, similarly to a sex kick. The move can be charged on the ground, increasing damage and knockback as well as increasing the distance that Toon Link can move sideways during the move. This move is an amazing finisher when used in the air, netting KOs as early as 80% on some characters, and is an effective out-of-shield option on the ground.
Down special 	Down special 	Bomb 	13% total 	Toon Link pulls out a bomb. Toon Link can throw the bomb upwards, downwards, left, or right, and if he is in the air he can press the grab button to drop the bomb on the ground. If Toon Link drops a bomb while he is close to the ground, the bomb will land on the ground and not explode until the bomb's timer runs out, but other players can pick up the bombs. The blast radius of the bombs are more similar to 's bombs rather than 's Brawl bombs, in that the blast radius is quite small and the bomb hits multiple times, dealing fewer damage the further the target is from the bomb. This move is a very good move for setting up combos due to its fixed knockback, possibly leading into many different moves.
Final Smash 	Final Smash 	Triforce Slash	5% (trapping), 4% (hits 1-15), 18% (hit 16) 	Toon Link traps the opponent and strikes them with many quick slashes before ending with an impressive final blow.
==In competitive play==
===Notable players===
* - Formerly the best solo Toon Link in the world, ranked 10th on PMRank 2018 but has since switched to Sheik, only using Toon Link for occasional counterpicks. Placed 2nd at Blacklisted 2, 9th at We Tech Those 2, and 4th at SuperNova 2 using Toon Link. Currently ranked #1 on PMRank 2023.
* - Multi mains Toon Link along with Marth, Roy and Meta Knight. Ranked 3rd on PMRank 2023 and has ranked as high as #2 on PMRank 2016.
==Alternate costumes==
===Project M===
Beginning in 2.0, Toon Link received an alternate costume based on his casual clothing (also known as the ) from . When using the alternate costume, Toon Link wears a patterned jumper, bracelets and brown pants instead of his normal , and no cap. He also uses the (given to him near the beginning of the game by Orca, the island's swordsman) instead of the Master Sword, along with an original wooden shield based on Young Link's from . This costume has two additional recolors so that it can be used in Team Battles.
											
											
											
The recolors for the outset costume references the goddesses of the . The front bears their symbols from the he must collect in Wind Waker, while the back bears the emblems of the that Young Link must collect in Ocarina of Time.
*Blue: While based off the normal clothes, it also references , who represents Wisdom.
*Green: References , who represent Courage.
*Red: References , who represents Power.
===Project+===
Toon Link received new costumes representing various Zelda games that use the "Toon Link" design.
* Orange - Inspired by the colors of Blue Bokoblins as they appear in 
His Outset outfit introduced in Project M was updated to better accurately represent Toon Link's adventures throughout the Great Sea. The goddess emblems have been removed on the first three recolors which, alongside three additional recolors, now bear emblems as seen on the various charts crucial to Link's quest throughout the Adult Timeline of Zelda lore. These include:
* Green - Based on Tingle's Chart and the IN-credible Chart, key items that are related to Tingle. Befitting this, the outfit bears an emblem of Tingle's head.
* Red - Based on red charts that reveal hidden treasure, like the Octo Chart, Beedle's Chart, Light Ring Chart, etc. The outfit bears an emblem of a question mark.
* Purple - Based on the Triforce Charts, which reveal locations of the scattered pieces of the Triforce of Courage. Befitting this, the outfit bears the signature Triforce. This costume is a darker purple with a white emblem, compared to the chart's original lighter purple with a golden emblem.
* Black - Based on the Ghost Ship Chart needed to locate the signature . The outfit bears an emblem of a skull and crossbones, a symbol often depicted on pirate ships. This costume is black with a white emblem, compared to the chart's original biege with a blue emblem. 
* Gold - Based on the seen in . The colors of this costume are an inversion to the chart's original design.
His third costume is based on an outfit found in , itself inspired by from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, sans the mustache and the beard. Extra details include changing his shield to match its Phantom Hourglass design and replacing the Master Sword with the .
Secret costumes:
Z-Secret Costume (Conductor Link): Based on the protagonist from , a train engineer for New Hyrule. Rather than the traditional green, he dons a dark blue engineer suit, brown belt and gloves, and a red cap with a dove. The Master Sword is replaced with the , and his shield now matches its Spirit Tracks design. 
R-Secret Costume (Minish Cap): Based on the protagonist from , who plays a pivotal part of shaping the Four Sword Saga. Extra details include his sword being replaced with the , and his standard cap is replaced with , a Minish sage who is turned into a green hat until the end of the game.
==Trivia==
*In earlier versions of Project M, Toon Link's neutral air was originally a sex kick akin to 's neutral air in Melee but it was reverted to its Brawl incarnation in v3.5.
*In Project M v3.0, Toon Link's costume had an odd hole in his head, and crashed the game when a Metal Box was used.
*Toon Link is the only version of Link whose alternate costumes do not include his signature hat; he has one such costume in Project M and four in Project+. The reason for this is because the Outset and Linebeck costumes do not have him wear a hat at all, while the secret costumes give him different hats altogether; the engineer cap and Ezlo (who acts as a "hat" of sorts).
==External links==
*Labbing Discord Tech Post
Category:Toon Link
Category:Characters (PM)