ARTICLE: Has Sheik Been Cut From Super Smash Bros?

Last night, Masahiro Sakurai revealed the veteran fighter Princess Zelda on the Super Smash Bros. website. To many, this was no surprise, as A Link Between Worlds was released in Japan today and Sakurai tends to make his reveals coincide with game releases. However, just because Zelda herself was no surprise does not mean the reveal wasn't full of them.

Princess Zelda in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U / 3DS

As you can see above, Princess Zelda retains her Twilight Princess design that was used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This was surprising to many fans, who believed that she would either revert back to her Ocarina of Time design due to Ocarina of Time 3D's release a couple years ago or take on her Wind Waker or Skyward Sword looks, as those games have been released more recently. Her Twilight Princess design seems to have been tweaked slightly to make her more colourful and look slightly younger.

There was also a picture shown on Zelda's profile page that has spun much speculation among the Smash Bros. community:

Zelda commanding the Phantom

The above picture seemingly shows Princess Zelda commanding her Phantom minion from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. However, if Princess Zelda is commanding the Phantom, this would mean that he is a new move, which would mean one of her moves needs to have been cut. The most common idea is that Zelda no longer transforms into Sheik using her down-special, but instead summons the Phantom.

What does this mean for Sheik? Well, I have come up with quite a few possibilities on exactly what the picture above may entail for Princess Zelda and Sheik.

The first possibility is that Phantom is no more than an Assist Trophy. While it would seem strange for Mr. Sakurai to upload a misleading picture like this onto Zelda's profile, it is entirely possible. The picture below shows Zelda in the same commanding pose as the picture above, however, the Phantom is not present. This could mean that Zelda is simply using a taunt and Sakurai strategically placed the Assist Trophy as a reference to Spirit Tracks.

Zelda in the same commanding pose

Another possibility is that the Phantom is Zelda's new Final Smash. It wouldn't be too strange for Sakurai to revise or change some characters' Final Smashes. However, the Light Arrows are much more iconic for Princess Zelda and she does not seem to have the Final Smash aura around her when she is commanding the Phantom, so this is unlikely.

There is also the possibility that the transformation to Sheik has been changed to the taunt buttons, similar to how Samus transforms into Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This would allow for both Sheik and Zelda to have complete movesets but still be able to change into one another. In addition, their transformation could also be triggered by their Final Smashes, also similar to Samus and Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sheik in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Assuming that the Phantom does replace Sheik as Zelda's new down-special, there are a couple possibilities on the fate of Sheik as a character. For one, Sheik could potentially be completely removed from Zelda and become her own separate fighter. However, Sheik does not seem important nor relevant enough to the franchise to actually represent it as their fifth fighter.

Another possibility is the introduction of Toon Zelda. Toon Zelda could retain the transformation mechanic and become Tetra, who would mimic Sheik's moveset. However, it would seem strange that Zelda would have the Phantom over Toon Zelda when Toon Zelda is the incarnation that actually possessed the Phantom in the games.

Toon Zelda & Tetra

Additionally, it could be possible that Tetra herself will be a character without the Toon Zelda transformation, and simply take Sheik's moveset with an added down-special. This is quite possible because Tetra is a popular character in the Zelda franchise and Wind Waker HD was just recently released. Furthermore, the art style of Wind Waker has already been introduced into the game in the form of Toon Link.

Another possibility is that the fifth Zelda representative will be Impa. Impa has appeared in the most Zelda games next to Link, Zelda and Ganon, so it would seem perfect for her to be the fifth representative of the franchise. Since Impa is a Sheikah just like Sheik, she could easily reuse Sheik's moveset as a separate character. Impa also most recently appeared in Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds, which means she is relevant at the current moment. However, Impa's art style does not match the other Zelda characters, which means Mr. Sakurai would have to take a realistic spin on her Skyward design to make her fit in with the other characters.

Impa from Skyward Sword

The last and most depressing possibility is that Sheik and her moveset have simply been cut from the entire game. This would seem a poor choice on Mr. Sakurai's part to remove a two-time veteran for a move devoted to a minor handheld Zelda title.

Hopefully Sheik's status is confirmed very soon and hopefully it is one that we can not only live with,  but be happy about.

Article By:
Giuliano V.