Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda is the princess of the land known as Hyrule. Along with the hero Link, Zelda protects her kingdom and the sacred Triforce from the evil Ganondorf. Zelda has an alter ego called Sheik. Zelda can be considered Princess Peach's equivalent in the Legend of Zelda series. However, Zelda is usually much more active in helping Link and is rarely reduced to a mere damsel-in-distress.

Super Smash Bros. Melee


Zelda is one of the newcomers introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Her design is based upon The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. She is a default character. Most of her attacks do not do much damage, and the attacks that do a lot damage can be difficult to control. The strongest of these is the Lightning Kick, which can only be done in midair. She is slow and light, and thus easy to kick off the screen. She can use her Transform ability to turn herself into Sheik, which gives her a broad range of different attacks suitable for different cases. She has blond hair and is wearing a pink and white dress and pink shoes.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Zelda returns for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Her design is now based completely off of her The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess appearance. She still uses a moveset with magic abilities. She uses all of her former moves from Super Smash Bros. Melee, as well as the Final Smash Light Arrow. Sheik also reappears. She now has brown hair and is wearing a purple and white dress and brown boots.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the female Fighting Wire Frames are modeled after Zelda and have her basic moveset. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the blue Fighting Alloys are modelled after her. When Kirby uses Swallow on Zelda, he will wear Young Zelda's wimple. This is odd, as Young Zelda does not appear in the games. Zelda was voiced by Jun Mizusawa in both Japanese and English. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Zelda has an alternate costume which lets her look like she did in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Solid Snake Codec Conversation

 * Colonel: Snake, I see you're fighting Zelda.
 * Snake: Yeah, I guess. Doesn't feel right fighting someone in a dress, though.
 * Colonel: Don't underestimate her just because she's a woman. Zelda's attacks are backed by powerful magic. Her hand-to-hand combat may look weak, but her magic makes it cut to the bone.
 * Snake: So this rose has thorns... Interesting...
 * Colonel: ...This is no time for pickup lines, Snake.
 * Snake: Don't worry. I know from experience that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

The Subspace Emissary
Zelda and Peach were watching Mario and Kirby. However, at the arrival of the Halberd, both princesses ran down to assist them after the arrival of the Primid. However, Zelda is soon captured by Petey Piranha and put into a cage along with Peach. Kirby, who battles Petey Piranha, has the choice to rescue either Peach or Zelda. If Zelda is not rescued, Wario appears and uses a Dark Cannon to transform her into a trophy and runs off with her. She is later seen on Wario's Cargo alongside Ness, who was also turned into a trophy by Wario. However, King Dedede distracts Wario by turning Luigi into a trophy and using him to lure Wario off the Cargo. Dedede steals the Cargo, takes back Luigi, and drives off. Link later spots Zelda on the Cargo before Dedede takes Mario and Pit, who were defeated by Link and Yoshi just prior. Although he loses both his newly acquired trophies to Kirby, and the engine of the Cargo is then wrecked by Pit, Dedede manages to get away with the remaining trophies he does have and makes it to his castle, where he pins badges on Luigi, Ness, and Zelda to revive them later. Unfortunately, Bowser arrives, steals Zelda and brings her to the Halberd, having a short scuffle with Mario's team along the way (and causing Zelda to lose her badge to Kirby).

If Zelda is rescued, she will team up with Kirby and escape the stadium the Warp Star  right before it explodes. They fly through the sky, and are chased by the Halberd, which both Kirby and Zelda land on. However, the Arwing with Fox McCloud inside is also following the Halberd. The Halberd shoots down the Arwing which falls down and crashes into the duo, and soon, Kirby and Zelda are back on the ground now in a grassland. While Kirby wanders off looking at other things, Zelda is shot by Bowser and she turns into a trophy. Bowser sends Shadow Bugs which take over Zelda and clones her.

False Zelda takes out a Dark Cannon and tries to shoot Link and Yoshi, however is stopped by Pit and Mario. False Zelda and the two fight however she is soon defeated and turned into a trophy, which soon dissolves. However, Link saw this and thinks that Mario is a member of the Subspace Army and that he killed Zelda, so he tries to turn Mario and Pit into a trophy with Yoshi's help. They are both defeated, however, and taken by King Dedede before Kirby's intervention, after which Link attacks the Cargo's engine.

Regardless of whether or not she is rescued from Petey Piranha, she still ends up in the Halberd with Peach. Meta Knight soon arrives with Lucario and Solid Snake as his entourage, fighting off both False Zelda and False Peach before freeing the real princesses. Zelda then becomes Sheik and goes off on her own with Peach until they are united by Fox, Falco Lombardi, Lucario, and Snake to fight Duon and have Mr. Game & Watch join their team. As Zelda, she then goes into Subspace and finds Tabuu, but is turned into a trophy along with everyone else by him soon after, leaving it up to Kirby, revived by the badge from earlier, to revive her. If Kirby also rescued Link, then both of them will revive Ganondorf, who learns of Tabuu and joins the other heroes into the Great Maze.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U


Zelda has been confirmed to return as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. She will maintain her appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. While Sheik has been confirmed to return, Zelda is unable to transform to Sheik, so she instead uses her down special as an attack involving her Phantom form. This form charges into characters, but it has projectile properties, which means it can be reflected.

Nayru's Love
Nayru's Love is Zelda's standard special move. It causes a large crystal to form around her body, damaging any players that it touches. It usually deals around 2-8% damage. Although rather weak, the attack is good to use when surrounded. Nayru's Love is also able to deflect projectiles, requiring a precise timing. Kirby can use the attack after using his Swallow attack on Zelda.

Din's Fire
Din's Fire is Zelda's side special move. She will shoot out a ball of fire from her hands. It becomes a guided bomb, and Zelda is able to tilt it up or down to get a better chance at hitting the opponent. When the player releases the Special Attack button, the fireball explodes. The attack is difficult to use, but helpful at long-distance fighting. The hitbox of Din's Fire becomes bigger the farther it travels.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the fireball travels much faster than in Melee, detonates much quicker (rather than the slight delay in Melee), and does more damage the further the fireball travels. It cannot be reflected, but it can be blocked by Reflector, while it can be absorbed by PSI Magnet and Oil Panic. When Zelda is hit before the fireball is activated, it will fly to its maximum range, then detonate. This is opposed to Super Smash Bros. Melee, where the attack simply vanished.

Farore's Wind
Farore's Wind is Zelda's up special move. Rings will go around Zelda, and she will teleport up into the air. Farore's Wind acts as her third jump, and she is teleported her farther than all other characters by their third jump. The player can influence the point where she reappears by moving the control stick into one of sixteen possible directions. Farore's Wind is also notable for being able to go through solid ground. If any character touches those rings, there will be 3-5 damage done to them. Sheik has a similar attack called Vanish, which teleports her upwards as well. However, it does not go as far, and does more damage to surrounding enemies. In Brawl, the move can deal damage at the point of vanishing and appearing, while in Melee it was only possible for Zelda to deal damage with it upon vanishing. If this move ends in mid-air, Zelda will be put into a helpless state.

Transform
Transform is Zelda's down special move, which she uses to transform into Sheik, and vice versa. The sole purpose of the move is to switch between different strategies. Sheik's strength and speed can help in hand-to-hand combat, and Zelda's magic and teleportation abilities make her better at long-distance fighting, or getting back up from a fall. Using the attack at the right time, in the right situation, can be difficult to master. The transformation needs a few seconds to complete, and can be interrupted by any regular attack.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the transformation takes slightly longer to complete. Zelda and Sheik are, however, invulnerable as long as it lasts. This can be used as a method to dodge attacks such as Final Smashes. This move will not return in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

Light Arrow
Light Arrow is Zelda's and Sheik's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When either of them destroys a Smash Ball, they will take a bow and fire a beam of light straight across the stage. The attack has a limited range, as it only sends a narrow beam, but when an enemy is hit, he or she is knocked out instantly. While Zelda's version of the move knocks the player upwards, Sheik's hits them in the same direction as the beam is targeting. Sheik's version causes slightly more damage than Zelda's, about 4% more to each opponent hit.

Trivia

 * Zelda's name comes from author F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda Fitzgerald. Shigeru Miyamoto's PR planner suggested for him to make a storybook where Link rescues a princess who is a timeless beauty, suggesting Zelda for the princess' name. Although Miyamoto did not go for the idea, he liked the name and ended up using it.
 * The instruction book for Super Smash Bros. Brawl refers to her as the queen of Hyrule, whereas her trophy states that she's the princess.
 * All of Zelda's moves in Melee, except for Transform, are actually Link's spells from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * Zelda appears in Nintendo Monopoly, where she replaced North Carolina Avenue and costs $300.
 * Zelda's name appears on the scorecard of Mario Golf (Game Boy Color).