Dark Link

Dark Link fighting Link in the Great Palace.
Dark Link
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Red
Debut	Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Dark Link (also known as Shadow Link or Link's Shadow) is the name given to several different evil counterparts of Link that have appeared as enemies throughout the The Legend of Zelda series. Depending on the appearance, Dark Link is either a single entity or appears in multiple forms. When fighting alone, Dark Link is a powerful foe that knows all of Link's techniques and sometimes even more.

Background

Dark Link first appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as the final boss. After Link defeated the Thunderbird, Link approached a strange old man, and a shadow version of himself appeared. Dark Link's fighting style mimicked that of Link's, making it a more arduous battle. By defeating his shadow, Link was able to claim the Triforce of Courage.

Another Dark Link would challenge Link in the Water Temple during Ocarina of Time. In one of the rooms in the dungeon, the scenery became that of a endless expanse of water with a single tree in the middle. Dark Link then emerged as the dungeon's mini-boss and attacked Link. He also had all of Link's techniques and could parry most of Link's, making it difficult to defeat him. Dark Link was still particularly vulnerable against the Megaton Hammer and could do nothing to evade the power of Din's Fire, both of which could act as keys to his defeat.

In other games, Dark Link appeared as multiple beings (often called Shadow Links) rather than just one. During Oracle of Ages, Veran summoned several Shadow Links during the final battle. These versions were weak and easily defeated, and they primarily followed the battle pattern of Mimics. In Four Swords Adventures, Ganon created a multitude of Shadow Links using the Dark Mirror. According to the Hyrule Historia, those enemies specifically took on Link's form as a reflection of Ganondorf's resentment of the Link from his previous life (in Twilight Princess). These duplicates appeared several times throughout the game as hindrances to Link's efforts, but were easily defeated. They were finally stopped from being created when Zelda closed the Dark Mirror within the Palace of Winds.

In the Game Boy Advance version of A Link to the Past, there were four Link doppelgangers who were battled in the Palace of the Four Sword. Unlike other incarnations of Dark Link, these ones wore colored tunics, which matched the tunic colors of the four Links when using the Four Sword. These four Dark Links were battled individually throughout the Palace, with each one being harder than the last. As usual, they fought using Link's techniques. By defeating them, the four pieces of the Four Sword were reunited.

Dark Link also appeared in Spirit Tracks as the hidden final enemy of Level 3 of Take 'Em All On!. In Tri Force Heroes, a trio of Shadow Links collectively acted as the boss of the Den of Trials. They were faced in its final area, known as the Baneful Zone, and they were equipped with a randomized set of items whenever they were challenged.

In Breath of the Wild, there was a Dark Link armor set that could be bought from Kilton after all of the Divine Beasts have been freed. It was known as the Dark set and was described as being the product of Kilton's research into monsters, which was based on "a monster born of darkness". The special effect of this armor set was that it increased Link's movement speed during nighttime, and other characters were startled by Link when he wore it. The same outfit set reappeared in Tears of the Kingdom, where it could be bought from Bargainer Statues.

Non-Storyline Appearances

Four Swords Adventures also had an alternate multiplayer mode called Shadow Battle. In this mode, all players controlled Shadow Links in a free-for-all battle.

In A Link Between Worlds, Shadow Links appeared as part of the game's Streetpass feature. They represented the Links from others players' save files whom the player has StreetPassed, and they could be challenged to battles when Link finds them.

In the Switch remake of Link's Awakening, scanning an amiibo of Link from Link's Awakening would unlock the ability to place Shadow Link in chamber dungeons, where he would act as a constant opponent to Link.

In Other Zelda Games

Dark Link appeared as an enemy in Hyrule Warriors. In the Legend Mode scenario "A War of Spirit", Cia took advantage of Link's streak of recklessness by bringing Dark Link to life from his shadow and his flaws during a battle at the Temple of Souls. After the initial Dark Link was defeated, more Dark Links throughout the battlefield and eventually trapped Link in a room until Link's allies helped him to destroy them. Additionally, in the Wind Waker scenario "Reclaiming the Darkness", two Dark Links appeared as enemies accompanying Dark Cia. Dark Link was also available as an alternate costume for Link through a DLC pack.

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the Dark Link outfit from Breath of the Wild appeared, with each piece of the outfit being unlocked by completing different challenges. Age of Calamity also featured similar enemies known as Hollows that were created by Astor's magic. He could summon a Hollow of Link as well as of the Champions (Mipha, Daruk, Revali and Urbosa).

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Dark Link initially appeared as a computer-controlled opponent in the Event Modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. That version resembled a dark silhouette of Link with no visible features. In Melee, one of Link's alternate costumes was a dark tunic that was evocative of Dark Link. In all later games, an actual Dark Link costume was added, which was based on the images used to represent the evil tribe from Twilight Princess, as it had glowing red eyes. Similar Dark Link costumes were also added for Toon Link and Young Link.
• In Cadence of Hyrule, Shadow Link appeared as a miniboss and was faced at different points depending on the character the player chose to start as. If the player started as Link, then Shadow Link would be battled in one of the dungeons and again as a miniboss in the final dungeon. If the player started as Zelda, then she must battle Shadow Link in Kakariko Crypt in order to gain the Hibiscus Potion that was needed to wake the real Link up. This game also notably introduced a Shadow Zelda, which filled the same role as Shadow Link. Shadow Link was later made available as a playable character as part of the game's first DLC pack in July 2020.

In Other Media

• The "shadow" was featured in an issue of Valiant Comics' Legend of Zelda comic, where it was shown that it could take on multiple forms, but most usually stayed in Link's form. Thunderbird was also depicted as being his pet. During the story, the shadow takes over Link's homeland of Calatia after overthrowing Queen Selene. He also has Link imprisoned when he visits, but Link is able to destroy his shadow in a trial by combat despite being backed by Ganon.
• Dark Link appears in the manga adaptation of Ocarina of Time, where instead of appearing in the Water Temple, Dark Link is the form taken by the shadow monster from the bottom of Kakariko Well (which was the boss Bongo Bongo in the original game). Dark Link battles Link on horseback and is ultimately vanquished.
• In the manga adaptation of Four Swords Adventures, there is only one Shadow Link whom plays a strong supporting role. He is literally Link's shadow brought to life and has his own personality and motivations. At one point he turns the Violet Link over to his side and befriends him while together they scheme to overthrow both Vaati and Ganon. But Shadow Link ultimately realizes Violet is a traitor who got close to him to learn about Ganon, Vaati and the Dark Mirror. He is wiped out by the light of the Four Sword after the other three Links intervene in his attempted execution of Violet but regenerates from the mirror. Zelda takes pity on him and tells him that he's still a Link still can be a hero. This leads Shadow Link to temporarily assume Violet's form to help the other Links find Vaati's weakness until the real one returned, and in the end he destroys the Dark Mirror (along with himself) so that Vaati could truly be destroyed. The ending implicates that this Shadow Link still lives as Link's actual shadow.

Trivia

• In Twilight Princess, during a scene that explains the background of the Twili, Link and Ilia are used as examples of greedy Hylians going after the Triforce. Afterwards it shows three Shadowy Links, all with glowing red eyes, as examples of the Twili.