Olimar has an extremely predictable recovery too, and look how high up he is.
Because he has an extremely strong ground game which makes up for it.
Zelda does not have anywhere near the same ground capability.
- Sheik: The most obvious one to start with. Sheik may have better combos than Zelda, but she doesn't have that much kill power save for USmash. FSmash and DSmash can kill, but only at very high percents. Her recovery is equally predictable to Zelda's and is also shorter horizontally. She's also easier to combo and chaingrab than Zelda since she falls quickly, which is a big problem, since she's also light, like Zelda.
Sheik has MUCH better combos plus she has several setups that allow her to palce the opponent in a bad position for a KO.
Fsmash is a poor kill move due to DI not due to killing power.
Dsmash is a good move due to its multiple hit capability as well as the trajectory.
He recovery, while as predictable, is much faster than Zelda's and can possibly kill the opponent if they do not space properly.
She isn't easier to combo because she isnt a fast faller so she doesnt get locked in many things.
The chain grab does affect her more so than Zelda but otherwise, Sheik is much more capable than Zelda in several ways.
- Sonic: Like Sheik, Sonic doesn't really have a solid batch of kill moves. FSmash, DSmash and Bair all have problems, such as slow start-up, predictablility and lack of range. His attacks also have poor priority, which is especially problematic against ranged attacks. Sonic thrives off of mindgames and punishment, so if his opponent knows what to expect, his threats are drastically limited.
Predictability is a result of PLAYER behavior.
The is with Sonic's kill moves is that they are rather slow and so they cannot be set up.
They do not lack range. Please get out of march 08.
Sonic does not thrive off of mindgames. He does thrive off of punishment but this is not inherently bad.
Sonic's mindgames are a direct result of maintaining his options.
unlike many characters, he can shield during his initial dash animation and cancel his spindashes. This allows him to retain his options during an approach rather than be limited like many other characters.
Those mindgames are a result of maintaining his options, he is not inherently relying on mindgames.
As for poor priority, for the sake of all that is holy, get out of the past and get in the present.
Sonic does NOT have poor priority.
Sonic outperforms Zelda in everything except in the fact of KO power.
He can rack up damage, recover much more quickly and safely, can approach much better than Zelda.
So no, Zelda is NOT better than Sonic.
- Fox: For a start, Fox is really easy to combo and chaingrab since he's one of the fastest fallers in the game.
Despite being so easy to combo, he's also very light, making him easy to kill. Like with Sheik, his recovery is just as predictable as Zelda's only shorter ranged. And also he gets ***** by at least 4 or 5 different characters, all of which are in high tier (i.e. Ice Climbers, Pikachu, Sheik, MK, ZSS to a minor extent...)
Actually its mostly Sheik and Pikachu and possibly ZSS.
I do not recall IC's and MK being massive issues.
let alonethat Zelda has a MASSIVE issue with G&W (if you forgot to mention).
While Fox is easily comboed, he also can combo other characters just as hard and can setup strings.
He can also link into a kill move which, unless the opponent perfectly SDI's and DI's, WILL result in the death of that opponent at early percents.
Not only that has has several combos that allow him to rack up damage.
He is a glass cannon.
Zelda is a wet piece of paper in comparison.
I do not know much about bowser unfortunately.
That's at least four characters that Zelda is superior too. Do you want me to do some more?
Hell no and I am quite sure that the Bowser mains can come in here and give you good reason as to why she is not better than him.
So no, Zelda is not better than those characters you listed because all of them outperform her in not just one or two areas, but in several.