Link (Super Smash Flash 2)

Link is a playable character in Super Smash Flash 2. His sprites in SSF2 are based on his The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess appearance and he returns with major improvements in his fighting skills.

Link currently ranks 25th on the tier list; a small, but devastating drop from his 18th position last demo. Link has long reach in the majority of his attacks, a good projectile game and strong finishers in his forward and down smash, forward aerial, down aerial, up aerial, the initial hitbox of a grounded Spin Attack and a fully charged bomb arrow. He has quick attacks in his tilts. He has projectiles in his Hero's Bow, Gale Boomerang, bombs, bomb arrows and he can deal with most projectiles when he stands idle so his shield can cancel his opponents projectiles out. He is one of the best edge guarders in the game and breaking his guard will be difficult for the most part. Link has dent vertical and horizontal endurance.

However, Link suffers from poor mobility and sluggish attacks. His weight, falling speed, and size makes him susceptible to combos, chain grabs, juggling and zero-to-death combos. His falling speed hinders his already poor recovery. Most of projectiles have low-priority so most his projectiles can be out-prioritized and all of them can be reflected. His cons overlook his pros and that is why he ranked close to the bottom.

Attributes
Link has powerful attacks and long reach with his disjointed hitbox. He has kill moves in his forward smash(second hit does more knockback then the first hit), down smash, a grounded and fully charged Spin Attack, down aerial, up aerial, forward aerial and a fully charged bomb arrow. Link has fast tilts. He has a wide range of projectiles with his Hero's Bow to shoot arrows and combine it with his bombs to produce bomb arrows which have a lot of power and priority, his Gale Boomerang which he can use to hinder his opponents approach and trap them in a vortex which brings them to him. With all of these projectiles at his disposal he can projectile camp his opponents and help him edgeguard. Link can chain grab fast fallers and big characters with his down throw and he has the second longest grab in the current demo. His down tilt is a meteor smash with decent range to help him edge guard. Due to Link being a fast faller he has good vertical endurance.

However, Link falling speed combined with his size and weight makes him vulnerable to combos, chain grabs and throws, juggling and hinders his already poor recovery. Link has poor mobility due to his slow dashing speed, his jumps give him little height and he has a lot of sluggish moves. The majority of Links' attacks are slow and leave him open. Link's projectile game can be countered because most of his projectiles have low-priority and all of them can be reflected thus crippling his camping tactics.

Ground attacks

 * standard attack 1: Swipes his sword across his body. 4%
 * Standard attack 2: Slashes outward. 3%
 * Standard attack 3: Stabs forward. 5%
 * down tilt: Swipes sword across ground. It meteor smashes with average power. Additionally, the whole sword meteor smashes, the move covers the whole sword, and the move can hit behind Link. It covers a great range from behind Link to the tip of the sword. 10%
 * down smash: Swipes sword from front to back very quickly; it is like his down tilt but with more force, and it aims behind him, too. 14% on the first slash, 17% on the second slash when uncharged. 20% on the first slash, 24% on the second slash when fully charged. His second slash is stronger in terms of KO power.
 * side tilt: An overhead swipe while moving forward. Good KO move. 13%
 * forward smash: Swings sword forward, if attack button is pressed again, he swings again but with more force. Both hits can be used to rack up damage quickly at very low percents. 14% on the first hit and 20% on the second hit when uncharged, and 20% on the first hit and 28% on the second hit when fully charged.
 * up tilt: Swings sword over his head in an arc. 9%
 * up smash: Swings sword in an arc over his head three times. The first two slashes suck the opponent downwards to setup for the last hit. 4% on first hit, 3% on second hit, 10% on third hit when uncharged. 4% on first hit, 3% on second hit, 14% on third hit when fully charged.
 * dash attack: Swings sword from head to toe while moving forward. Identical to his forward tilt. Good combo starter. 10%

Aerial attacks

 * neutral aerial: Does a flying jump-kick. 11% sweet spot, 6% sour spot.
 * forward aerial: Swings his sword twice while spinning 360 degrees. Like his backward aerial, the first hit traps the opponent and sets up for the second hit. Good for combos. 11% on the first hit, 12% on the second.
 * back aerial: Kicks backward twice. Like his forward aerial, the first hit traps the opponent and sets up for the second hit. Also good for combos. 4% on the first hit, 8% on the second.
 * up aerial: Thrusts his sword upward. Not very powerful but it is a great damage racker to due to fast start-up. 15%
 * down aerial: Points and holds sword downwards with long duration. After connecting this with an opponent, Link bounces or "pogos" off the opponent. Powerful KO move. 17% first hit, 8% second hit.

Grabs and throws

 * Grab: Link fires his Clawshot, possessing one of the longest grabs in the game so far. Link can use his Clawshot to grab ledges from a short distance away. If used in air, it is used as an attack which deals 7% damage to the opponent. If it is used near a ledge, it grabs the ledge with it and climbs onto it.
 * Pummel: Link hits with the hilt of his sword.  2% per hit.
 * forward throw: Link slashes forwards. 9%
 * back throw: Link turns around and slashes. 9%
 * up throw: Link slashes upwards in an arc from front to back. Can chain grab big characters and fast fallers. 8%
 * down throw: Link sweeps the ground with his sword. Can chain grab big characters and fast fallers, but is easy to DI out of. 6%

Other

 * Ledge attack: Link rolls and follows up with an overhead swipe while moving forward. 8%
 * 100% ledge attack: Link rolls, then stabs. 10%
 * Floor attack: Slashes both sides of him. 5%

Misc.

 * Entrance: Appears in a whirlwind and unsheathes his sword.
 * Taunts:
 * Standard: Swipes his sword in front of him, then twirls it around once behind him.
 * Side: Plays Sun's Song on a ocarina.
 * Down: Drinks a small bottle of Lon Lon Milk, then puts it away while wiping his mouth. This is Young Link's taunt in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * Idle poses:
 * Swings his swords twice.
 * Wins: Happily raises the Master Sword.
 * Loses: Sadly claps to the winner.

Tier placement history
From demos v0.6a to v0.7b; Link was seen as a top-mid tier character because his tier position kept fluctuating around top and high tier. He held tier positions that he never held in the main Smash bros. games or other fighting games Link has been in. However in each subsequent demo (with the exception of demo v0.7b) Link's tier position kept dropping to around positions he had in the main smash bros. games. In demos v0.8b and 0.9a; Link is now seen as one of the worst characters in the demos ranking 18th in the former and 25th in the latter.

Trivia

 * Link along with are the only characters so far to wear their default costumes in team battle when they are on the green team.