Link

Link (リンク Rinku) is the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series by Nintendo. Link is the wielder of the Master Sword and the holder of the Triforce of Courage and the savior of the princess Zelda. He appears as a playable fighter in all five Super Smash Bros. games.

Character description
Link's first appearance was as the "Hero of Hyrule" in The Legend of Zelda (1987)., Link was designed with a green tunic and a green hat which (like Mario's design) was due to limitations in the NES hardware. This appearance has since been traditional for all incarnations of Link.

One thing that varied with Link with every incarnation is his age. In some games such as The Wind Waker and the first part of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link is a young boy around the age of 9-10 whereas in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and the second part of Ocarina of Time, Link is depicted as a young adult around 16-17.

Because the Zelda series has always kept Link a silent protagonist, nobody has much insight into Link's personality. However, it has been shown that Link is a brave and polite young man and is very "humble".

Because of the different incarnations of Link, the origins of each body can vary, but almost always, he is a young boy (or man) who starts out as a normal person until learning of his destiny to save Hyrule from the evil Ganon (or Ganondorf) and as his journey presses him, he becomes a hero. In Ocarina of Time, he is a young Hylian, whose mother, before dying, entrusted him into the care of the Great Deku Tree. In The Wind Waker, he is a young boy living on Outset Island, given the legendary Hero of Time's clothes. In Twilight Princess, he is an ordinary young man working at Ordon Ranch until several of the villagers' children are kidnapped by monsters which starts his adventure.

Link made his first fighting appearance (and first official appearance) in a Nintendo game outside the Zelda series in Super Smash Bros., and has traditionally appeared in all installments of the series since.

Master Sword
The Master Sword (マスターソード Masutā Sōdo?) is Link's sword. It is a longsword created by the goddess Hylia with the intent of defeating evil (hence its title Blade of Evil's Bane). The Master Sword is usually embedded within a pedestal within the Temple of Time, and can only be freed by the Hero of Time. In certain Legend of Zelda titles, it is the only weapon capable of defeating Ganondorf, and as such it is a certain story point for Link to claim and wield the Master Sword.

In Ocarina of Time, Link frees the Master Sword from its resting place in the Temple of Time to open a gateway to the Sacred Realm, the place where the Triforce resides. However, Link does not wield it until he awakens from his seven-year slumber, as the Master Sword cannot be wielded if the user is too young, as Link was at the time of finding the sword. After defeating Ganon, Link returns the Master Sword back to the Temple of Time, presumably leaving it for the next Hero of Time to find.

In Twilight Princess, the Master Sword continues to reside in the Temple of Time, but at the time of the game, the temple is in ruins and is surrounded by a forest, making it difficult to find. Later in the game, Link seeks the Master Sword to break the curse the Twil Zant placed on him and to restore his Hylian form, which he does so successfully. Link uses the Master Sword in the final battle against Ganondorf, and returns it to the Temple of Time afterwards, mirroring the ending of Ocarina of Time.

Link uses the Master Sword in all of his standard ground attacks, his pummel, and all aerials except his neutral and back aerial.

As a playable character
Link's first appearance in a fighting game is in the original Super Smash Bros. as one of the starting eight playable characters.

He is a slow character, but as the wielder of the Master Sword, Link's melee attacks have considerable range, which often compensates for the lack of speed, allowing him to hit opponents from farther away to continue combos. His right/left B-move is a fast Boomerang which will return to Link, a property that is useful in both comboing and combo breaking. His B-Up move is a Spin Attack, which is powerful but doesn't give him much distance for recovery. In fact, Link's abysmal recovery is often considered to be the main reason for the bottom tier placing of what would otherwise be a powerful fighter with moderate combo potential and versatile projectiles. His B-Down move allows him to pull out a Bomb. Link can throw the bomb so that it explodes after making contact, or he can throw it lightly so that it will not explode.