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This article is about Sheik's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Sheik.

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The playability of Sheik had earlier been hinted by Eiji Aonuma, the director of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, who stated that he sent Twilight Princess-style designs of Sheik and Ganondorf to Sakurai. She was ultimately revealed on January 16th, 2008.

Sheik saw a large drop in her tier position, from 5th in Melee to 25th in Brawl, in the middle tier. While still retaining her blinding attack speed, one of the best projectiles in the game in her Needles and a powerful lock in forward tilt that can rack up about 50% on most fighters, she lacks power, with a few of her killing options being to be able to KO under 150%, with two of the options being her sweetspotted up smash and her up special, Vanish, both of which are difficult to land. She also suffers from unusual character archetypes, being a lightweight despite her large hurtbox. Sheik has average matchups, losing to most of the higher tiered with one exception of Fox, whom she counters, and had achieved below average tournament results. Despite being ranked much higher than Zelda, who holds the second-to-dead last in the game at the 37th place, her Zelda/Sheik form ranks higher one spot at the 24th, as transforming to Zelda helps solving the very severe KOing problems Sheik has.

Attributes[]

Sheik is one of the fastest characters in the game, having the fifth fastest running speed, a great distance of her DACUS that can be used for killing, and a very high attack speed. She has one of the best abilities to combine attacks effectively, as her attacks have very little start up and ending lag, and generally have low knockback, allowing them to chain effectively. The best example of this is Sheik's Forward Tilt. Most of Sheik's attacks can lead to a forward tilt, especially at low percentages. Examples include up tilt, down tilt, neutral aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, and Jab Cancel. Additionally, the low knockback of forward tilt can be repeatedly linked into itself, especially against heavy characters and fastfallers, making for great damage-racking potential. This can also be ended with almost any of Sheik's attacks, and it can easily rack up 50% or more in one string of attacks, especially on fast-fallers or heavy characters, making her a hard counter to Fox. Sheik's up tilt is also a powerful attack. At very low percentages, it can lead into itself, and at slightly higher percentages it leads into a forward tilt. It has a very large range and long-hitting hitbox, making it a powerful defensive move. Sheik's smashes are also fairly good. Her down smash has multiple hits and has long range. Her up smash can kill easily at around 100%, but only when it is sweetspotted, which is not always easy. Her forward smash isn't very powerful, but it is a two hit combo and has fairly good range.

Sheik has a fairly powerful air-game that really only lacks in one area: versatility. Her Back and Neutral Aerials have very similar knockback and speed and negligible landing lag outside of auto-cancel. If hit in the initial few frames, they have decent knockback, making them useful for edgeguarding, and they have good range. Her Up Aerial has some landing lag and has less knockback. Her Forward Aerial is a very quick swipe with low knockback but a great trajectory (slightly below horizontal), low lag, but sub-par range. This makes it a great move for killing at higher percents. Her down aerial is a Stall-Then-Fall, negating all vertical knockback, but unfortunately, it has high landing lag.

Sheik does have versatility amongst her special moves, however. Needles are a fast projectile that can be very hard to dodge and can be charged for increased damage. Sheik's Up Special is somewhat low in terms of recovery distance, but it has the second highest knockback of any of Sheik's moves. Combined with the invulnerability it grants, this can occasionally be used against some moves as a powerful counter, but it's also one of the hardest moves to hit with unless used in this way: it can also be used to edgeguard through Vanish Gliding. Sheik's Forward Special is the Chain, which can be used for a Tether Recovery, and also has some offensive potential through Chain Locking, which is great for punishing Shielding, Rolling, and Spot Dodging, and Chain Jacket, which can be used to insert the knockback and priority of the last attack into the Chain, which can prove useful on some characters with less priority or some projectiles. The Chain makes her a sub-impossible match-up for Ganondorf. Additionally, the Chain has high priority, and combined with the massive range behind it, the priority is a blessing. It is slow coming out and returning, however, and leaves her vulnerable from behind, a problem that can be capitalized on. Sheik's Down Special transforms her into Zelda, which allows use of two different characters in the same match, which can help to balance some of Sheik's weaknesses. Sheik also can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl.

Sheik is not a character without any weaknesses, however. Above all, Sheik does not have much killing power on most of her moves, as a majority of her killers in Melee were severely nerfed. Her three most powerful killing moves are her sweetspotted up smash, her second kick in her side smash, and Vanish, which are hard to connect with compared to Sheik's other moves. Sheik can use techniques such as DACUS and forward tilt to help connect her up smash, to an extent, but nothing else kills reliably below 150%. This makes Sheik very reliant on getting numerous hits to rack up damage and edgeguarding. Additionally, Sheik's best chain of attacks (the forward tilt-lock) often stops working before the opponent reaches kill percentage (stops at about 50%, depending on the match-up of course: lasts to later percentages on fast-fallers and heavy characters like Wolf and Bowser, but stops sooner on light and floaty characters like Kirby and Jigglypuff). Sheik also has poor priority and attack range on a good number of moves. Sheik is also very light-weight and tall for her weight class (although her crouch is very low and she has the ability to crawl), making her easier to kill than many characters (though this is not without its advantages, as it allows Sheik to escape some chaingrabs, including Dedede's infamous Chaingrab), and her poor recovery often comes up short. Sheik is also one of the fastest-falling characters in the game, making her vulnerable to any chaingrab that is effective against fast-fallers.

Changes from Melee to Brawl[]

Sheik has, as stated before, undergone a large nerf, resulting a dramatic drop on her previously high tier position in Melee. Her specials have seen some change. Needle Storm immediately begins charging if special move button is tapped, rather than firing a single needle. The special button must be tapped twice to fire a single needle. Needle Storm will eventually stop charging by itself, instead of requiring the player to throw the needles or press Z to save them. Her recovery is also slightly improved, as Chain can now be used as a tether recovery, and Vanish now has more damage, more knockback, and less landing lag. Like Zelda, her in-game transformations take longer than before, but render Sheik/Zelda invincible. Chain also moves more freely than in Melee. Her normal moves have also undergone changes. Her Forward Smash has increased knockback on the second hit. Her Down Smash has lower knockback. Her Up Smash has increased knockback on the sides. If Sheik is close enough, the tip and side hits can both strike the opponent, sending the enemy at a ~60 degree angle. Her forward tilt has less knockback, but is better at comboing. Her up tilt has more knockback on the second hit. Her Down aerial now angles diagonally downwards, and is a Stall-Then-Fall. Her Up aerial is now a better juggler, but no longer a good kill move. Her Forward aerial has less knockback and a smaller sweetspot. She also has a better, shorter short hop, and can crawl.

In cosmetic terms, Sheik's overall design is based off of an unused concept from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Sheik looks more feminine, with a more delicate looking physique, lighter skin tone, smaller eyes, and a different outfit. She also now has a braid. She can now be chosen instead of Zelda at the character selection screen (one simply selects Zelda and then clicks on the image of Sheik behind Zelda's portrait).

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]
  • Neutral Attack - Sweeps her right hand left then right, then repeatedly jabs with her arm straight and with her fingers sticking out. First two hits, 3%. Jabs, 2% each, 1% if hit with the tip of her fingers.
  • Dash Attack - Throws her arms forward and forcefully separates her hands, comes out very fast . 7%.
  • Strong Forward - Kicks her leg in an arc. Its high speed and low knockback allows good combo ability, being able to do it repeatedly or follow up with another attack. 5%. This move it's self makes sheik a counter to, or go even with many other fast falling characters due to the insane amount of damage it racks up.
  • Strong Up - Sheik raises her right leg above her and slams it down. First hit, 6%. Second hit, 7%. A good combo ender.
  • Strong Down - Sheik does a quick spin kicking the ground with her leg. 8%.
Smash[]
  • Side Smash - Sheik kicks in front of her twice trapping the enemy in the first kick at low percentages and knocks them back with the second kick.The second kick has moderate knockback. First hit, 5% uncharged, 7% fully charged. Second hit, 9% uncharged, 12% fully charged.
  • Up Smash - Sheik raises her arms above her head holding them together and forcefully separates them to the left and right sides of her body. Powerful knockback when sweetspotted, but less powerful when not sweetspotted. It is also possible to hit twice with it for huge damage. Body (hits first), 17% uncharged, 23% fully charged. Wind, 12% uncharged, 17% fully charged. With tall people, like Ganondorf and Snake, it could make two hits, causing 40% damage when sweetspotted.
  • Down Smash - Sheik spins her body on the ground sticking her legs out. Very fast with long duration for a smash attack. First hit, 13% uncharged, 18% fully charged. Second and third hits, 10% uncharged, 14% fully charged. Fairly low knockback.
Other[]
  • Ledge Attack - Sheik swiftly kicks her foot up off the edge. Similar to her Up Air, except sideways. 8%.
  • 100% Ledge Attack - Sheik slowly gets up and forcefully brings her elbow forward. 8%.
  • Floor Attack - Sheik kicks backwards, then brings her leg over her head in a kick, then gets up. 6%.
  • Trip Attack - Gets up and spins around with her leg extended. 5%.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral Air -Sheik kicks forward with her leg. Has sex kick properties and can be used OoS due to its quick speed. 13% in front of Sheik and 10% behind during the first several frames, 5% during the rest.
  • Forward Air -Sheik quickly chops in front of her with her left hand. 9%. Good for edgeguarding due to its low angle of trajectory.
  • Back Air - Sheik kicks backward with her right leg, fast speed and good range. More powerful on the sweet spot, making this move a more reliable kill move on light weight characters. 11% during the first several frames, 6% during the rest. Sweetspot is her foot.
  • Up Air - Sheik does a quick screwdriver kick. 11% during the first several frames, 6% during the rest of them.
  • Down Air - Sheik kicks down throwing herself down with it, in a similar fashion to Sonic's down-aerial. A Stall-Then-Fall. High landing lag and low priority. 10%.

Grabs & Throws[]

  • Pummel - Sheik punches the enemy with her left hand. 3%.
  • Forward Throw -Sheik elbows the enemy with her left arm. 5%, then 2%.
  • Back Throw - Sheik throws the enemy behind her and kicks backwards. 5%, then 2%.
  • Up Throw - Sheik flips upside-down and kicks the enemy with both of her feet. 3%, then 2%.
  • Down Throw -Sheik throws the enemy down to the ground, flips, and axe kicks the enemy's midsection, sending the enemy upward. Two hits of 3%.

Special Moves[]

Sheik's Special Moves
Melee Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Needle Storm
Side Special Chain Burst Grenade
Up Special Vanish
Down Special Transform Bouncing Fish
Final Smash Light Arrow Sheikah Dance

In competitive play[]

Role in the Subspace Emissary[]

Subspace sheik

Sheik in the Subspace Emissary.

If one chooses to rescue Zelda from Petey Piranha in the Subspace Emissary, the player can still transform into Sheik, despite her not technically being introduced until much later. Thus, Sheik is the only character in the Subspace Emissary to be playable before she's introduced. After Peach and Zelda are rescued by Lucario, Meta Knight, and Snake, the two princesses are ordered to stay where they are until the Halberd is under their control. Zelda transforms into Sheik and walks out with Peach, opening a window to the outside of the ship. Both princesses then make their way to the front deck of the ship. There, they witness Fox's Arwing attacking the Halberd, and his lasers-meant for the Halberd's turret-nearly injures Peach. In response, Sheik leaps into the air and uses Vanish onto the Arwing, striking the windshield and forcing Fox to jettison. They fall back to the Halberd, and begin to fight, but Peach offers them both tea, ending any erroneous hostilities.

As they drink their tea, several Mr. Game and Watches fall from the bridge and turn into shadow bugs that coalesce to form the monstrous Duon. The three prepare to fight, but are joined by Lucario, Snake, and Falco. They then proceed to defeat Duon, and it turns into the trophy of Mr. Game and Watch, who Peach revives. Then, she and the other heroes journey into subspace for the final battle against Tabuu. When Meta Knight retook the Halberd, Sheik transformed back into Zelda.

Costume Gallery[]

Alt-zelda2

Zelda's and Sheik's alternate Costumes

Trivia[]

  • Sheik has the shortest on-screen appearance duration out of all the characters in Subspace Emissary, apart from Ivysaur, who only appears as a trophy.
  • Unlike in Melee, where completing Classic mode with either Zelda or Sheik would get both Zelda and Sheik trophies, Brawl makes one play both characters separately to retrieve their trophies.
  • Along with Sonic, Squirtle, Wolf, Toon Link, Jigglypuff and Zero Suit Samus, Sheik is one of the only characters to not be seen in trophy form during The Subspace Emissary.
  • Sheik is one of two characters from the Zelda series who is not in the bottom tier. The other is Toon Link.
  • Sheik and Zelda have different birthdays.

External links[]

ZeldaSymbol The Legend of Zelda universe
Characters Link (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Sheik (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Princess Zelda (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Young Link (Melee  · Ultimate)
Ganondorf (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Toon Link (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side characters Bosses Dark Link  · Ganon
Assist Trophies Tingle  · Skull Kid  · Midna  · Ghirahim  · Moon
Mii Fighter Costumes Link  · Princess Zelda  · Sheik  · Majora's Mask  · Yiga Clan  · Skull Kid  · Ancient Soldier Gear
Background characters Four Giants  · Moon  · Tingle  · Toon Link  · Alfonso
Stage Hazards King Bulblin  · Koume and Kotake
Enemies Bubble  · Cucco  · Darknut  · Like Like  · Octorok  · Peahat  · ReDead  · Stalfos
Other Navi  · Beedle
Stages Hyrule Castle  · Great Bay  · Temple  · Bridge of Eldin  · Pirate Ship  · Gerudo Valley  · Spirit Train  · Skyloft  · Great Plateau Tower
Underground Maze  · Majora's Mask
Items Beetle  · Bombchu  · Bunny Hood  · Cucco  · Deku Nut  · Fairy Bottle  · Gust Bellows  · Heart Container  · Triforce
Music List of Music (The Legend of Zelda series)
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of stickers (The Legend of Zelda series)
Spirits List of spirits (The Legend of Zelda series)
Masterpieces The Legend of Zelda  · Zelda II: The Adventure of Link  · The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
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