OK let's settle this: What Zelda is Sheik supposed to be???

[Door Key Pig]

Twilight Princess Zelda
In Brawl, Sheik was specifically given a (scrapped?) Twilight Princess design to match the rest of the Zelda cast minus of course Toon Link. And they both kept these designs in Smash 4, perhaps only being separated because of 3DS limitations in transforming characters, right? And when it comes to Ultimate, she not only retains the ponytail of this TP design, spruced up with some BotW wear, but the Palutena's Guidance specifically refers to her with familiarity in relation to the previous PG of Smash 4, in which she was still TP Zelda. And these specifically clarified about incarnations, saying Link was a different incarnation to the one Pit fought before and Zelda was the one from ALttP.

Smash 4:

Sheik
Pit: I wish I knew Sheik's true identity.
Palutena: It is one of the great mysteries of our time.
Viridi: Are you guys for real? You can't be serious.
Palutena: Compared to the other fighters, Sheik moves very quickly. Don't get overwhelmed by Sheik's speed, especially one-on-one.

Ultimate:

Pit: It's Sheik!
Palutena: Sheik appears to be wearing a traditional Sheikah outfit this time around.
Viridi: Ooh! So exotic! That armor is right up my alley. I wonder if it comes in a children's small...
Pit: I always get nervous when Sheik gets close. If I make one wrong move, I'll get pummeled with a flurry of quick attacks!
Palutena: His attacks may be fast, but they aren't very strong. That's why he'll try to end the fight quickly. He's also very light, so focus on launching Sheik at lower damage percentages.
Viridi: And he doesn't have much reach, so keep your distance until you're ready to rush him with your Upperdash Arm.
Pit: Good advice! But... you guys do know Sheik is just Zelda, right? In disguise? Wait, is there a new timeline?!

A decision was also made to also keep Zelda and Sheik separate like in Smash 4, although maybe they only saw that appropriate exclusively for the Pokemon Trainer anyway. It also begs the question if this is OoT Sheik, why she lacks her original design faithful to that game unlike Ganondorf. She has that in Hyrule Warriors, after all. She also lacks her voice actress from Melee, but also from her TP Brawl/Smash 4 appearance because it was the same actress.

Ocarina of Time Zelda
The only canonical "Sheik" there is. Even in Smash games where she clearly bares TP design elements, she is still described in the trophies and hints within the context of that appearance. Yes there has been a "non-canonical" Sheik in Smash Bros before, but the only thing linking to that currently is design in her ponytail and the stretch of the aforementioned PG reference, so she can at worst, be viewed as the original OoT Zelda in the highest capacity since Melee and at best, simply seen as that incarnation instead because "who cares about those two tiny TP things". With the TP design connection no longer being special when she also takes elements from BotW oddly, she can be seen as her joining the other Zelda character Ultimate redesigns with a new voice actress; alongside not having a technical reason to keep her and Zelda separate anymore YET perhaps going for different takes on both Zelda and Sheik (and giving each Zelda character their "proper" look with Link being his recent BotW look, Zelda being a design related to the recent ALBW and Ganondorf being his classic design), perhaps this is an iteration representing the original Sheik alongside the ALttP Zelda that just happened to be decked out with the cooler looking BotW/TP design elements as mentioned in the section below. Also should mention how in Ultimate, she actually gets masculine pronouns perhaps to better suit her canon character than before.

Breath of the Wild Zelda even though that doesn't make sense because Sakurai explicitly pointed out that BotW Zelda wasn't suited for fighting and that's why ALttP Zelda is in the game, also she's totally the ALttP Zelda and not the LBW Zelda because of her Palutena's Guidance, even if her design takes from both
She strangely is adorned with the Breath of the Wild Sheikh kit that's based off of her. This could merely be for aesthetically pleasing reasons or that happening to be the most modern Zelda look reference for the Sheikh clothing, making an updated, modern Sheik look in accordance with her TP look's ponytail, instead of just taking from the OoT look like with Ganondorf. THAT thus being Sheik's "definitive" look for this "Smash ULTIMATE" game instead. Something I should note though is that while Zelda couldn't be her BotW incarnation because she was unsuited for fighting, it's odd that Sheik on the other hand, DOES have BotW influence in her design, as if they were BOTH going to be BoTW-based to match Link, and then after changing course with Zelda's direction they just kept Sheik as she was in that idea for whatever reason. After all, we have reason to believe there was a "Toon Sheik" planned for Brawl despite Sheik never appearing in those Toon games, so why not for a game where she at least has clothing based off of her?

The Link to the Past Zelda featured in this game even though it's unprecedented for THAT Zelda to have a Sheik form, but oh wait I just said they can totally make Sheiks for any Zelda in the last section, whoops
Uh, they happen to share the same voice actress in this game for whatever reason that came from the ALBW portrayal for this Zelda. Maybe just to keep parity, though.

Ambiguous/general, like the mysterious character herself

Other answer (please list below)

I don't even play Zelda games, this just bugs me.

 

[Crystanium]

I think she's just scrapped Sheik from Twilight Princess. She has the ponytail, whereas her Ocarina of Time counter-part doesn't. Even Ganondorf has an updated Ocarina of Time appearance with the difference now being that he has the large sword shown during Space World 2000. Remember, this sword was only shown at the result screen at the time in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

 

[Megamanxtreme Unlimited]

Ocarina of time obviously, but with a more modern look close to breath of the wild's style

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I agree with Crystanium. It's just her TP form with BOTW outfits.

Though I do wish Young Link would use MM stuff instead. There's some ties to that version with what stage they used, but that's kind of it specifically. Otherwise, Fire Arrows exist. But it's clearly the Young Link model and weapons otherwise from OOT. It also would divide up the characters more. We have two OOT, one TP(with BOTW notes), one BOTW entirely, one WW(with no real references to PH and SS, though it's worth noting that the character is meant to represent the graphical design of all 3 games, not the specific Link from WW alone. Which makes it even worse due to the lack of any PH or SS items that could easily make them more interesting. Even some taunts or outfits would be neat). And finally, Zelda is focused on ALTTP with some bits from ALBW. Ignoring how she's still partially OOT due to the spells, anyway.

The one thing I find weird is Sheik getting rid of her chain. What does that do for her? I mean, she's easily better without it, as it was slow and was hard to use at times. It was cute for making your own pictures, at least. It was created for Smash too. I think it's still in her taunts, at least?

The irony about Ganondorf is that his sword is the only non-canon one to ever use. Though he uses it perfectly in Smash, fitting his brutal strength very well. If he had a sword as a main attack instead of a taunt/custom, it was the best one he could use, if they were going to use a canon Ganondorf design. The only other option was Hyrule Warriors that would still keep his brutal style(incidentally, HW Ganondorf also has him use Smash moves like Warlock Punch, so it would still be fittable). It is worth noting that his Smash attacks are new animations, but similar hitboxes to his Brawl/4 versions, so that might be why the sword is underused outside of that. I feel it's easy to still use for other moves, like his Up Air wouldn't be much different besides possibly having a slightly harder to use hitbox, depending if both feet need using or not.

 

[Xelrog]

Sheik never appeared in more than one official Zelda game. So given the choice between apples, apples, or apples, it's Ocarina Sheik. There just isn't another one.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Since Sheik's only ever officially appeared in Ocarina of Time...I'd have to say Hyrule Warriors' Zelda to be contrarian since it's the only modern appearance Sheik's had outside Smash.

HW Sheik does also have the ponytail though.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Canonically Shiek only ever appears in OOT and Hyrule Warriors, making her form Ocarina of Time. However, the design used from Smash 4 onwards was form scrapped ideas for a Shiek in TP. In Ultimate, her hair and basic outfit designs still harken back to the TP design while also donning BOTW armor.

Yeah, it's weird.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Eh, it doesn't matter what game she originated from. OOT Sheik is not in Smash anymore. She's clearly the TP version with BOTW notes. Canon rarely is relevant to Smash unless they chose to use it. They clearly aren't using her canon appearance at all. Also, HW isn't really "canon", per say, but yeah, it's her only two official Zelda game appearances.

Mind you, not much reason for her to be there. Zelda isn't OOT either. She's ALTTP with some ALBW notes. So they're kind of similar in that regard(Sheik has a bit more of BOTW in comparison to Zelda's ALBW notes).

 

[Sebas22]

Since Zelda can summon Phantoms, she also represents Spirit Tracks. So, ALTTP+ALBW+ST. Weird combo, but I like it.

 

[Davidk92]

Are we seriously pretending that the "BotW Zelda is more into research than fighting" is anything more than a cute joke? As if literally ANY Zelda besides Hyrule Warriors, Wind Waker and maybe Twilight Princess is an actual fighter? As if the fact she held off Ganon for a hundred years and destroyed a small army of Guardians simply means nothing? Are we seriously doing that?

 

[Fenrir-Bolt]

I don’t think Smash Bros is very canonical, if at all. There’s not that much of a point in looking too deeply in the games for any shred or possible hint to provide clues in explaining some unanswered question or give insight into one of the game charters games, like Zelda as mentioned. In BOTW, would there be that much of a reason for Zelda to drastically hide her identity like that? Plus does it really fit the Zelda in that particular instalment?

Shiek is just a very OoT thing to me, but maybe it’s not even Zelda and just another Shiekah person in general who happens to resemble Zelda from that storyline? It’s kind of hinted at in Oot, that the Shiekahs are a very mysterious race that had almost gone extinct and that Zelda had obviously learned from other Shiekah, her powers of disguise and stealth abilities.

But Ganondorf is still Oot, so it’s not that strange. Supposedly, Oot, is like second to Skyward Sword, so it’s his original form, but what about Twilight and Wind Walker? I guess it’s just his most inconic.

 

[Door Key Pig]

Over on Reddit, someone pointed out how TP Zelda/Sheik has no spirit in Ultimate whatsoever, despite...

-OoT Link of course being represented through Young Link and technically appearing in the Epona spirit, OoT Zelda having a spirit (OoT Sheik appearing as Sheik's fighter spirit, but I'm getting to that...)
-TP Link being represented through the Midna and Wolf Link spirit, Ganondorf having his TP form as a spirit despite being the same guy in OoT and TP, taking his OoT form in Ultimate

Yes, Sheik's fighter spirit takes artwork from her OoT appearance, but he's also described in the context of OoT in his trophy in Brawl, the game that started off him using the Twilight Princess design. Plus, maybe the TP design artwork was somehow unsuitable for a spirit (like, Pokemon Trainer and Wii Fit Trainer don't have original artwork for their fighter spirits) or it was easier to just use the OoT artwork? And again, if they redid Ganondorf to resemble his OoT look, why didn't they also do the same for Sheik?

 

[Crystanium]

Since Zelda can summon Phantoms, she also represents Spirit Tracks. So, ALTTP+ALBW+ST. Weird combo, but I like it.

See, this is why I think if they added a character like Space Pirate, he could also be a conglomerate of the space pirates in Metroid.

 

[Fenrir-Bolt]

Over on Reddit, someone pointed out how TP Zelda/Sheik has no spirit in Ultimate whatsoever, despite...

-OoT Link of course being represented through Young Link and technically appearing in the Epona spirit, OoT Zelda having a spirit (OoT Sheik appearing as Sheik's fighter spirit, but I'm getting to that...)
-TP Link being represented through the Midna and Wolf Link spirit, Ganondorf having his TP form as a spirit despite being the same guy in OoT and TP, taking his OoT form in Ultimate

Yes, Sheik's fighter spirit takes artwork from her OoT appearance, but he's also described in the context of OoT in his trophy in Brawl, the game that started off him using the Twilight Princess design. Plus, maybe the TP design artwork was somehow unsuitable for a spirit (like, Pokemon Trainer and Wii Fit Trainer don't have original artwork for their fighter spirits) or it was easier to just use the OoT artwork? And again, if they redid Ganondorf to resemble his OoT look, why didn't they also do the same for Sheik?

Obviously Smash Ultimate was going for a retro theme throughout the game, especially with the sprites/strickers all throughout the game. I imagine the designers felt that Shiek (like other characte4s who are not regularly appearing in their own title, like F Zero racing) felt that somehow Shiek has become a staple in Smash Bros and has taken on their own life, and felt that in their version of the character, it would be more appropriate to use the TP inspired design...? It’s not hat radically different compared to the Ganondorf design though. It’s not even his costume design, but his general body type and face all look really different and almost look out of place compared to the other characters in Smash. Plus, Ganondorf design is similair to OoT, but even then they still made it slightly more complicated and nuanced.

I guess even though the character is not regularly appearing in titles they felt like keeping the character updated as if they were, regardless. But Smash Bros is not really canon, the characters change to stay relevant (in a sense) but then Zelda and Link both have their ‘Link to the Past’ costumes.

 

[Fenrir-Bolt]

It’s not the same as the Twilight based design, they just wanted to keep the character relevant. I think maybe because it’s a single playable character on it’s own, they wants to keep it fresh looking to inspire players to choose the character more often.

 

[soyperson]

My theory is that Smash Sheik is a separate entity from Zelda, being a character in their own right.

 

[Arrei]

Well, the Smash characters are all supposed to be separate entities in their own right, since they're just trophy representations of their source character and not the actual character ripped from their home universe to do battle for our amusement. So the way I see it, each character is supposed to be an ideal version of their self, and Sheik takes this appearance in an effort to specifically be the quintessential version of Sheik in our eyes, not necessarily tied to a Zelda at all. Yet it also doesn't change that Sheik doesn't exist in any game but OoT and HW, so if she *had* to actually be a Zelda, it'd have to be one of those, or none at all.