10 Fearsome Video Game Women You Should Never Mess With

4. The Legend of Zelda/Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Princess Zelda

Considering the amount of time that some incarnation of Link has to save some incarnation of Zelda from abduction, death, or... a less savory fate, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Zelda is the stereotypical damsel in distress - a physically attractive character who's lacking in the area of self-defense, ingenuity, possibly even somewhat vapid, etc., etc.

Unlike her significantly more docile Nintendo princess counterpart Princess Toadstool, Zelda doesn't play that sh*t.

In nearly every entry of the Zelda franchise, the titular character (although oddly enough, not the main protagonist...) is in harm's way, subjected to the evil whims of Ganondorf, the Gerudo witches, or some dastardly plot to subjugate Hyrule and conquer the land. And in all of these, Link is the REALLY generous soul with a LOT of free time, who just so happens to dish out plenty of sword-related ass-whuppin' just in time to save Zelda's hide.

However, unlike Peach (which is what I 'think' is the first name of the aforementioned Toadstool), Zelda maintains an active presence in most of the games, whereas Peach is usually locked away in a castle and only seen at the game's end. Zelda is a spirited, determined, competent individual that often helps Link along in his quest - her most notable instance of this was disguising herself as Sheik in Ocarina of Time, and actively assisting Link on his journey to free Hyrule from the machinations of Ganondorf.

However, we aren't here for that - despite Zelda being more than just the typical ditz that sits in the castle and wait for her rescuer - the Zelda canon games are largely where Link shines.

Do not, DO NOT get hit by this.

In my humble opinion, Nintendo's most consistently (and most valuable in terms of replay-ability) entertaining title is Super Smash Bros. The game basically functions as a casual brawler between up to four people. Now, in this game, some characters are noticeably better than others - for instance, playing as Marth or Roy is a noticeably more versatile challenge than someone playing as Jigglypuff or Yoshi - and Nintendo could have easily just tossed Zelda in there with a barebones moveset and called it a day.

Instead, Zelda is agile, evasive, has a reliable method of floating back to a stage after being knocked off, possesses the ability to teleport, and although not the best brawler in the game, is a fairly reliable choice to make.

That, and the above Final Smash (Light Arrow) is one of the better ones in the game, wiping out anybody slow enough to be caught in the narrow attack's trajectory.

Aren't you glad she isn't just some underdeveloped wimp?