Toon Link

Toon Link is a recurring character in The Legend of Zelda series, appearing in conjunction with a primary Link.

Toon Link, like most of the Links, is a different Link than the one in Twilight Princess. While the art style of Toon Link has been used for the Links in Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, and Tri Force Heroes, Toon Link refers to the Link from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.

Appearance
Toon Link, like most of the Links, is a different Link than the one in Twilight Princess. While the art style of Toon Link has been used for the Links in Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, and Tri Force Heroes, Toon Link refers to the Link from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.

Personality
In regard to personality, Toon Link is one of the happier incarnations; even though he only appears in The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and the spin-off game Hyrule Warriors Legends, he is consistently shown to be carefree, easily excitable, and more prone to laughing and smiling than any other incarnation. His cartoonish design also allows him to emote exaggeratedly, a trait shared with the other incarnations that share his art style.

Abilities
Toon Link's moveset is almost identical to his and, by extension, Link's, although there are some differences. One of the most obvious is his Bomb, which emits an explosion that uses the art style from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.

However, there are mechanical differences as well, as the explosion has greater range, but less power compared to Young Link and Link's. Toon Link's neutral special, Hero's Bow, charges faster than Young Link's and shoots arrows farther compared to his and Link's. However, it charges slower than Link's, and his arrows fly slower than Link's. Toon Link's Spin Attack functions like Young Link's, as it traps opponents by hitting them multiple times before launching them away. However, it grants more distance when used as a recovery move, especially in comparison to Link's. Like Young Link, Toon Link possesses the Boomerang as his side special and as such, it provides noticeable differences compared to Link's Gale Boomerang: it does not push/pull opponents and grants more control when throwing it.

In regard to mobility, Toon Link's only differences from Young Link are his higher double jump and lower traction. However, Toon Link's mobility differs considerably from Link's: he walks and dashes faster than Link, his jump is higher and both it and his falling speed are floaty than Link's, and he can wall jump like Young Link. Toon Link's overall power is also similar to Young Link's, yet noticeably lower than Link's. Much like his special moves, a number of Toon Link's standard moves differ from theirs. The most noticeable examples include his up smash; neutral, forward, back and down aerials; and forward and back throws.

Trivia

 * Toon Link's artwork in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is nearly identical to his artwork in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, though the former is missing the apparent gust of wind; has his sword and shield; and his hairstyle is mirrored.
 * Toon Link, Young Link and Roy are the only swordsmen in the Super Smash Bros. series whose swords consistently produce a punch/kick sound effect instead of a slashing sound effect for the majority of their moves.
 * Despite being able to crawl in their respective games, Toon Link, Mario and Pit are unable to do so in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * Toon Link is the only playable character from The Legend of Zelda series to have debuted in the 21st century.
 * Toon Link is the only playable character from The Legend of Zelda whose design remains the same for more than two games. This is very similar to how Link's "toon" design has been used for more The Legend of Zelda games than any of his realistic designs, especially in games taking place in the Adult Timeline.
 * Despite being associated with the Adult timeline, due to Link's "Toon" design also being used for his appearances in Four Swords, The Minish Cap, Four Swords Adventures, Spirit Tracks, and Triforce Heroes, this technically makes this particular version of Link to appear at least once in every timeline, as opposed to simply having a Link with a unique design. Interestingly enough, both Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild used cel-shading like the "Toon" Zelda games, but their characters were drawn realistically.
 * Toon Link was initially conceived by artist Yoshiki Haruhana during the making of The Wind Waker. Though Four Swords was released weeks earlier, the development of Wind Waker began earlier and established the visual style.