Link

Link's design in Twilight Princess.
Link
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Uncle, Grandma, Smith (grandpa), Aryll (sister)
Voiced by	Fujiko Takimoto (Young Link) (1998-2002) Nobuyuki Hiyama (1998-2001) Sachi Matsumoto (Toon Link) (2002-present) Akira Sasanuma (2005-present)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

There is more than one Link who shows up across Hyrule's history, but all of them are similar. All of them are heroic young Hylians who dress in green and look alike. Each of them bears a sword in his left hand and a shield in the other in addition to whole arsenal of various weapons. Each Link rises from obscurity to beat back evil as it rises- whether it be the pig demon Ganon, the wind mage Vaati or the twisted mask that is Majora. The following are the accounts of all Link's adventures.

Background

The official order of the Zelda games remains in debate. The Hero of Time's story is listed first because it is generally considered to be first in the Zelda series chronologically.

The Hero of Time

Ocarina of Time

During the fierce wars that engulfed Hyrule, a lone mother escaped into the Kokiri Forest with her son, Link. As she lay dying, she begged the Deku Tree to protect her son. Sensing a noble fate for the boy, the Deku Tree agreed. Link was then raised in the Kokiri Forest as one of the mystical Kokiri children, unaware of his Hylian heritage. He formed a strong friendship with Saria the Kokiri girl, but he was teased by Mido and the other Kokiri for his lack of a fairy partner. Dark dreams haunted Link for some days throughout his childhood until he woke up one day to find he now had a fairy named Navi, who brought him to save the ill Deku Tree. Link entered the tree and used his Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield to slay the evil within, but it was too late for the Deku Tree. Before he withered, the tree bestowed upon Link the Kokiri's Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, and sent him to meet the Princess of Destiny in Hyrule Castle. After a heartfelt farewell with Saria, Link left the forest with his new companion Navi and began his grand adventure.

Sneaking into Hyrule Castle, Link met Princess Zelda for the first time. Zelda saw Link as a hero from her prophetic dream who would destroy the darkness unleashed by Ganondorf. They plotted to stop Ganondorf by beating him to the Sacred Realm by finding the other two Spiritual Stones and then using the Ocarina of Time. Link travelled around Hyrule and learned the tricks of the adventuring trade as he helped the Gorons and Zoras with their problems to earn their respective Spiritual Stones. He returned too late, to behold Zelda fleeing Hyrule Castle on horseback with her nurse Impa while Ganondorf pursued. But before she disappeared, Zelda tossed Link the Ocarina of Time, which had a telepathic message imprinted on it that taught Link the Song of Time. He used this to open the Door of Time, only to find one more key to enter the Sacred Realm- he had to pull the legendary Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time. He did so, but only the Hero of Time could wield it. Since he was too young, he was cast into hibernation for seven years and protected within the Temple of Light. In the meantime Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm and found the Triforce, but his impure heart caused it to split. Link recieved the Triforce of Courage and was completely unaware.

Link had entered the Temple of Time a child and left a man. He awoke and met Rauru, the wise sage who had watched over him in his sleep. Rauru sent him and Navi out to find the five new sages so that Ganondorf may be defeated. Hyrule had become a dark and twisted land under Ganondorf's reign. Link's search for the sages brought him to familiar areas like the Kokiri Forest (where Link learned the truth of his past from the Deku Tree sapling) and reunited him with old friends like Saria, Darunia and Princess Ruto- all of whom turned out to be sages. Link was also aided by his horse Epona and the mysterious Sheik- who told Link that the secret of travelling through time. Anytime Link returned the Master Sword to its pedestal, he'd be sent back in time to his child self. He needed to do some deeds in the past in order to progress in the future. As his adult self he found the last two sages- Impa and Nabooru. Then, at the Temple of Time, Sheik revealed himself to be Zelda in disguise, and told Link that he had a piece of the Triforce all along. But then she was captured by Ganondorf, and it was up to Link rescue her.

After infiltrating Ganon's Castle and scaling Ganon's Tower Link fought his nemesis for the first time for the last time- first in the form of Ganondorf and then as the monstrous Ganon. Link's Master Sword and Light Arrows proved invaluable in the battle. Link defeated Ganon long enough for the freed Zelda and the other Sages to seal Ganon within the tainted Sacred Realm. Zelda then gave Link a solemn farewell as she used the Ocarina of Time to send him and Navi back in time, where he replaced the Master Sword and closed the door between worlds for now. The Ocarina of Time ended with Link meeting with Zelda in the courtyard with the Triforce of Courage in his possession.

Majora's Mask

Young Link in Majora's Mask

Sometime after this, the young Link left Hyrule on Epona with the Ocarina of Time after a farewell with Zelda on his own personal quest for a lost friend. He wound up in the parallel world of Termina, where he strived to save the doomed world from destruction by Majora's Mask, which had gripped a lonely Skull Kid with its dark powers. During this quest Link was accompanied by Tatl, the Skull Kid's former fairy, and used the power of magical masks to assume the forms of a Deku Scrub, Goron, Zora or even a Fierce Deity. Link was caught in a time loop where he could restart the three days leading up to Termina's destruction while saving most of his items by playing the Song of Time. Link not only freed the four great Giants from their sleep but also helped all of the troubled inhabitants of Termina to solve their problems which the corrupted Skull Kid have caused. After his adventure was done, Link and Epona continued their search for the lost friend.

It is also known from The Wind Waker's backstory that the Hero of Time had left Hyrule for good one day and, when he was "seperated from the elements that made him a hero", the Triforce of Courage split into eight shards which scattered across Hyrule. Without the Hero of Time to save Hyrule when Ganon next attacked, Hyrule was flooded to become a Great Sea- but the kingdom still stood at the bottom of the ocean, preserved in an air bubble and frozen in time.

The Hero from Ordon

The Link of Twilight Princess had a humble upbringing in the Ordon Village, in a province located outside Hyrule. He was of high esteem in his village. He was admired by the children, especially Colin, and Link acted as the kids’ unofficial leader. He was also held in high regard by the adults of the village, who saw Link as a potential future mayor. Link himself worked as a ranch hand for Fado. One of his closest friends was a girl named Illia, although she often scolded him for carelessness whenever his horse, Epona, was injured. The town’s swordsman, Rusl, later gave Link a sword and invited Link to accompany him on his trip to Hyrule.

However, everything was turned upside down when the village was raided by Bulblins. They kidnapped all of Ordon’s children, including Illia and Colin. Link attempted to pursue the creatures, put he was pulled into the Twilight Realm that had taken over the Faron Forest. After entering the Twilight Realm, Link was transformed into a wolf. He was taken to the Twilight version of Hyrule Castle and imprisoned there until a shadowy imp named Midna helped him to escape. In his wolf form, Midna rode and instructed Link. She first brought him to Hyrule Castle to meet with Princess Zelda, who was being held in her room, as Hyrule Castle had been taken over by a fiend named Zant. Link learned of Zant’s plans to merge the worlds of light and Twilight, before Link and Midna had to leave.

Midna riding on Wolf Link.

Midna wanted to use Link in order to gather three Fused Shadows that she believed would allow her to defeat Zant. Midna convinced Link that he should help her by telling him it was the only way he could find and rescue his friends. Midna first sent Link back to Ordon in order to steal weapons for her- a sword and a shield. Link saw how his former friends recoiled and did not recognize him in his wolf form. After liberating the light spirit of Faron and driving the Twilight out of the forest, Link was restored to human form. But he would become a wolf again whenever he entered another province that had been overtaken by the Twilight until he restored that province’s light spirit. This pattern continued until all three of the light spirits had been saved.

In Kakariko Village, Link was reunited with most of the town’s children, except for Illia who was still missing. He eventually found her in Hyrule Castle Town, only to find that she had lost her memory. After gathering the third and final Fused Shadow, Zant appeared and waved aside the Fused Shadows, saying that he had a much stronger power source. Link attempted to protect Midna, but Zant struck Link with a curse that trapped him in his wolf form, and Zant proceeded to fatally wound Midna. Link quickly rushed Midna to Princess Zelda in the Hyrule Castle. Zelda found she could not restore Link to his normal form due to Zant’s evil magic, but she knew of something that could- the Master Sword. She told Link of its location, put all her magic into saving Midna and then vanished.

Link and Midna made their way to the Forest Sanctuary, and they found the Master Sword in the ruins of the Temple of Time. Link drew the Master Sword and was restored to his Hylian form. Midna kept a sample of the curse that had been used by Link, so that Link could use it to alternate between his Hylian and wolf forms at will. Link and Midna soon sought another method to defeat Zant, by gathering the four shards of the Mirror of Twilight. Link also was able to restore Illia’s memory, and they had their delayed reunion. She gave Link a present that she had been planning to give him when he was going to leave with Rusl- a horse call that Link could use to summon Epona whenever he needed her.

When the Mirror of Twilight was reassembled, Link and Midna used it to attack Zant’s stronghold, the Palace of Twilight. Midna encouraged Link by telling him that she once was the Twilight Princess before Zant cursed her, and that Link and Zelda’s selfless acts had inspired her to be less selfish. Link eventually defeated Zant after a huge battle, and he then sought the person whom had supplied Zant with power- Ganondorf, whom had taken up residence in Hyrule Castle.

Link and Midna soon confronted Ganondorf. He first possessed Zelda and used her as his puppet in battle. But Link was able to drive Ganondorf’s spirit out of Zelda’s body. Ganondorf proceeded to transform into the pig beast Ganon, but Link defeated this form with his wolf form. Ganon assumed a new and more powerful form, but Midna teleported Link and Zelda to safety while she took on Ganon herself. She failed, and for a while she was believed dead. However, it succeeded in turning Ganon back into his Gerudo form.

Link then lent his power to Zelda in the final battle with Ganondorf. Link and Zelda rode together on Epona’s back into combat with Ganondorf. Zelda fired Light Arrows to stun Ganondorf so that Link could slash him with the Master Sword. Afterwards, Ganondorf used a magical barrier to trap Link in one-on-one combat with him. Link was able to not only defeat Ganondorf but impale him on the Master Sword.

Following Ganondorf’s death, Link met with Midna, whom had been restored to her original form. Link and Zelda later saw Midna off when she returned to the Twilight Realm, but she destroyed the Mirror of Twilight as well in order to prevent anymore clashing between the two realms. With his adventure complete, Link returned the Master Sword to its resting place and rode Epona back to Ordon Village.

The Hero of Winds

The Wind Waker

The Link who surfaced in The Wind Waker was a young boy who lived with his loving grandmother and younger sister named Aryll. He had a pleasant upbringing on Outset Island, until the day when he turned the same age the Hero of Time did when he started his quest. As was customary on the island, Link was given a green tunic like the Hero's. On that very day he met with Tetra and her pirates, who had been chased there by the Helmaroc King. Confusing her with Tetra, the bird swiped Link's sister. Link wanted to help Tetra find her, and he proved her worth by earning a sword from Orca after some practice sessions and being given a shield by his grandmother. Link infiltrated the Helmaroc King's coop at the Forsaken Fortress after the pirates brought him there, but he was easily beaten and taken to meet Ganondorf- who thought nothing of the boy and had him flung into the horizon.

Link during The Wind Waker

That may have been the end for that Link if it weren't for the King of Red Lions, a mysterious talking boat. The King of Red Lions offered him advice as well as transportation across the Great Sea. He also granted Link an instrument called the Wind Waker, which he used to manipulate the winds. First Link needed to gather three pearls from Dragon Roost Island, the Forbidden Woods and Greatfish Isle. Link earned the first two after clearing through dungeons, but when they traveled to Greatfish Isle, it had been destroyed by Ganondorf. After a tip from Tetra, Link found Jabun the water spirit hiding in a cave near Outset Island. Link had little time for reunions as he got the last pearl from Jabun. He used them all to make the Tower of the Gods rise from the ocean. After passing its test of courage and proving himself to be a true hero, Link was granted access into ancient Hyrule and had become the Hero of Winds. Link then pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal to unfreeze time in Hyrule and used his new weapon to save Aryll from the Forsaken Fortress. But the blade had gone dull over the ages without the prayers of the Sages to power it, and so Link was easily beaten by Ganondorf. Tetra tried to help, but ultimately it was Valoo and Komali who rescued them both.

The King of Red Lions had Link and Tetra brought to Hyrule, where he revealed himself to be Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule- an ancient king of Hyrule. And he also revealed Tetra to be a descendant of Princess Zelda. Link was amazed at this information. Daphnes still accompanied Link as the King of Red Lions while Zelda stayed behind in Hyrule Castle. Link now had to find two new Sages to help power his Master Sword. With Makar and Medli, the sword was restored to its original sharpness, leaving behind only one errand- he had to fish around the Great Sea and gather the shards of the Triforce of Courage. Once it was united, Link broke the barrier leading to Ganon's Tower and battled Ganondorf once more while ancient Hyrule flooded around them. Ganondorf was finally beaten when Link lodged the Master Sword in Ganondorf's head, turning him into stone. Link and Zelda were teleported to the surface of the Great Sea by Daphnes, who sadly chose to stay behind and go down with Hyrule. Link and Zelda, who had gotten back into her Tetra guise, later set out to find a new Hyrule.

Navitrackers

Link also competed against three of Tetra's pirates who dressed similar to him in Navitrackers.

Phantom Hourglass

Sometime after Link and Zelda set off on their journey, Tetra began investigating a mysterious Ghost Ship that was terrorizing the seas, as she believed that it was a fraud set up by pirates and wanted to prove them wrong. Link had spent most of the time aboard the ship napping while Niko told tales of his previous adventure, but Link was once more drawn into an active adventure after Tetra leaped onto the Ghost Ship and was abducted as the ship sped away. Link attempted to board the ship and rescue her, but he fell overboard and wound up being washed up on the shore of Mercay Island.

There Link met the mysterious old hermit, Oshus, and his fairy friend Ciela accompanied him. After Link proved his worth, Oshus told Link that he could find the Ghost Ship by rescuing the three spirits that had been hidden on several islands. But he needed a method of transportation across the islands first, since he no longer had the King of Red Lions and was separated from Tetra's pirates. Link sought the adventurous sailor Linebeck and found him when he saved him from a trap in the Temple of the Ocean King. He found that Linebeck was eager to find treasure but too cowardly to do the work himself, so Linebeck wound up doing little more for Link than piloting his steamboat.

Link traveled across three islands and united the three spirits. To do this he often revisited the Temple of the Ocean King and found the Phantom Hourglass, which prevented the temple from draining his life force depending on how many Sands of Time he had. He later found that the third spirit they found was actually a piece of Ciela, who was the true third spirit. With Ciela united, they had all three spirits and were ready to hunt down the Ghost Ship. Link succeeded in defeating the ghosts of the Ghost Ship, only to find Tetra had been turned to stone. Oshus arrived at this point and explained that he was the Ocean King, but his power had been drained by Bellum, a monster whom had taken up residence in the Temple of the Ocean King. Tetra's life force had been drained as well, but Oshus promised that he could restore her if Link could defeat Bellum and free Oshus's lost power.

In order to defeat Bellum, Link needed to have Zauz forge a Phantom Sword for him. But Zauz did not have the materials necessary for the complex weapon, so Link had to gather three pure metals. After exploring more sectors of the ocean, Link was able to gather Crimsonine, Azurine and Aquarine. With all three elements combined, Zauz was able to forge him his Phantom Sword. All he needed was a handle for the blade, and this was provided by Oshus, who made the handle from the Sands of Time. With this new weapon, Link was finally able to make his way to the Temple of the Ocean King, where he found Bellum. During the battle, Ciela's full memory was awakened, and she found herself to be the Spirit of Courage and Time. With her newfound power, she formed Phantom Spheres that Link could use to freeze time, and with this ability he was able to defeat Bellum.

Tetra was then restored to life by Oshus with his restored power, but he found that his power had not fully returned. At this point Bellum returned and snatched away Tetra, then possessed the Ghost Ship. Link and Linebeck then chased the Ghost Ship down in their boat and engaged it in a naval battle. The Ghost Ship was destroyed. After entering the ship's wreckage, however, Link was briefly separated from the Phantom Sword and knocked out. At this point Linebeck attempted to wield the Phantom Sword in a selfless attack on Bellum, but Bellum was able to overwhelm and possess him. With help from Ciela, Link was able to free Linebeck and at the same time destroyed Bellum for good.

Oshus was returned to his true form and said that they were actually in a different world, so he sent Link and Tetra back to their own world. Link and Tetra woke up on the dock of the Ghost Ship, which was somehow repaired but now devoid of evil spirits, and were next to Tetra's pirate ship again. The pirates claimed they had been gone for ten minutes and that the whole adventure must have been a dream. However, Link found that it was not a dream when he saw that he still had the Phantom Hourglass and could see Linebeck's ship in the distance.

The Saga of The Four Swords

The following games are listed only because the order they take place in is known. Their exact place in the Zelda timeline is unknown.

Very little is known about the Link who is spoken of in The Minish Cap's backstory. When Hyrule was covered in darkness this child used the Picori Blade and light force granted by the Minish to repel the evil and save Hyrule.

In The Minish Cap, a young, capless Link is childhood friends with Princess Zelda due to the good relations between King Daltus and Smith, Link's grandfather. When Vaati shatters the Picori Blade and turns Zelda into stone, it's up to Link to repair the sword and defeat Vaati. He is accompanied in his quest for the four Minish elements by Ezlo, a Minish wizard who had been transformed into a bird-like hat by Vaati's curse. Ezlo rides on Link's head and uses his spells to shrink Link down to Minish size near great sources of Minish magic, which proved an invaluable ability in the adventure. The Picori Blade was restored and became the Four Sword, Vaati was destroyed, Zelda was freed, and Ezlo was restored to normal. As he left for the Minish world, he gave Link a special gift- his own green cap.

Link in four colors.

The Four Sword found its way into the hands of a travelling Link during the backstory for The Four Swords. This Link came upon Hyrule during his travels and battled the maiden-snatching Vaati, ultimately sealing him within the Four Sword itself. The Four Sword was enshrined to prevent Vaati's escape.

During The Four Swords Zelda took her childhood friend Link to check on the seal holding Vaati within the Four Sword- only to be kidnapped by the escaped Vaati. Link used the Four Sword to beat and seal Vaati once again. Link was later forced to pull the Four Sword out and free Vaati in order to battle the Shadow Link, setting off another epic quest in Hyrulian Adventure which involved not only Vaati but Ganon. The Links rescued Zelda and the six maidens and this time sealed Ganon within the Four Sword.

Other Links

The rest of these games are listed in release order rather than implied timeline.

The Foreign Warrior

When a young boy named Link from distant lands heard that Princess Zelda was in the clutches of Ganon in The Legend of Zelda, Zelda's nursemaid Impa sent him to unite the shards of the Triforce of Wisdom, which he must use to invade Ganon's Death Mountain lair. Link braved eight deadly dungeons for each shard of the Triforce of Wisdom and then entered the Death Mountain lair. There he managed to slay Ganon after battling him courageously and retrieved the Triforce of Power. Link, the hero of Hyrule, was thanked by the freed Princess Zelda.

Near his sixteenth birthday a mysterious birthmark in the shape of the Triforce appeared on the back of Link's left hand. This was the result of an enchantment placed by an ancient king, and it meant that he was worthy to use the full Triforce, as Impa explained. Impa told Link to find the last piece of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage, and use the Triforce to awaken the first generation Princess Zelda. But the Triforce of Courage was hidden within Death Valley, which could only be reached by placing crystals in six statues hidden within different temples which were protected by guardian deities. So Link set out with the crystals in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and unlocked the path to Death Valley while avoiding Ganon's minions, who hoped to revive Ganon by sacrificing Link. After fighting one of his greatest battles with the monstrous Thunderbird and then his own Shadow, Link finally united the Triforce and woke the princess.

The Destined Hero

In A Link to the Past, Link lived with his uncle in a peaceful existence. One stormy night Princess Zelda telepathically contacted Link with a plea for help. A dark wizard name Aganhim who had gained control over Hyrule Castle was sacrificing the maiden descendants of the seven sages in order to break the seal on the Dark World. Zelda was the only one left, so Link journeyed into the castle and rescued her. But he needed the Master Sword before he could stop Aganhim, so he journeyed across Hyrule to gather the three pendants of Courage, Power and Wisdom. He used the pendants to pull the Master Sword from the Lost Woods. But in the meantime Zelda had been captured and sacrificed into the Dark World. And after he fought Aganhim, Link was sent there too. Now he ventured to save Zelda and the other six maidens who had been distributed to Ganon's monster lieutenants across the Dark World. Each told him more about Ganon, the villain pulling Aganhim's strings. Link proved himself to be the Hero of Cataclysm's Eve by defeating Ganon in the Pyramid of Power and used the Triforce to restore peace to Hyrule.

After defeating Ganon and fulfilling the Hyrulian prophecy of the ancient Hero, Link went on a quest of enlightenment. But on his way back to Hyrule, he was shipwrecked by a squall which trapped him in the dreams of the Wind Fish during Link's Awakening. Link did not find out until long into his quest that he had been trapped in the Wind Fish's dream, and all he knew was that waking the Wind Fish was the only way to leave Koholint Island and get back to Hyrule. So he gathered magical instruments from the eight dungeons, which he used to open the Wind Fish's egg. After battling DethI, the source of the Wind Fish's nightmares, he found his chance to awaken the Wind Fish. Even though doing so meant losing all the dear yet imaginary friends he had made on the island, especially a girl named Marin, Link had to wake up the Wind Fish and himself if he ever hoped to return to Hyrule. Link woke up in the middle of the ocean and watched the Wind Fish fly off.

Hero of Ages and Seasons

One day Link entered Hyrule Castle and found the three pieces of the Triforce, which spoke to him and whisked him away on a pair of quests in Holodrum and Labrynna, where he rescued the Oracles of Seasons and Ages from Onox the General of Darkness and Veran the Sorceress of Shadows, respectfully, during the Oracle games. There is no official order for which adventure came first, but the end result is the resurrection of Ganon.

During the course of Seasons, Link arrives in Holodrum and meets up with the exotic dancer, Din. While Link is enjoying his time with Din and her traveling Circus Troupe, they are attacked by a whirlwind that leaves Din as Onox's prisoner and Link lost without a weapon to his name. He is soon met up with Impa, who provides him with assistance in his adventure. In order to stop Onox, Link has to master the power of the Rod of Seasons by gaining the power of all four seasons. He also has to gather the power of all the Elements so that Holodrum's Maku Tree can use its full power to reach Onox so Link can defeat him.

Regardless of which game the player starts first, in Ages, Link ends up in Labrynna and meets up with Nayru. Link meets up early on with Impa who not only is acting strangely, but cannot open the magical seal leading to Nayru's secret grove. It turns out Veran was possessing Impa and once she is near Nayru, passes into Nayru's body and warps through time to four hundred years prior. In order to fix the alterations in time, Link has to jump between the present and four centuries ago, using the Harp of Ages to master time as well as restore Labrynna's Maku Tree with all eight elements so he can reach Veran and fix the past.

Afterwards he embarked in one more battle to save Princess Zelda from Twinrova, who had been using Onox and Veran to light the torches necessary to revive their king. The last torch could only be lit by sacrificing Zelda - an act which Link was able to stop before it was too late. In the end Twinrova sacrificed their selves and revived Ganon. After Ganon's defeat, Link had some moments of fun and peace with all the friends he had made throughout his adventure before leaving in a boat on some new journey.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Link appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, where his appearance was inspired by Ocarina of Time, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where his design had been based off of Twilight Princess. In Melee there are three trophies of Link, while Brawl has two trophies (one being his normal trophy while the second shows his Final Smash). Brawl also contains a Wolf Link trophy and stickers of Link from The Legend of Zelda, "A Link to the Past, Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, with Epona from Ocarina of Time, as Wolf Link with Midna in Twilight Princess, with the King of Red Lions from The Wind Waker, with pigs from The Wind Waker and with a Goron Mask from Majora's Mask. There are also additional stickers of Link in Deku, Goron and Fierce Deity forms from Majora's Mask.
  • Young Link also appears as an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, based on the Link's child form appearing in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Young Link is unlocked by playing 500 Vs. Mode matches or by beating Classic Mode with ten different characters. Young Link has three unlockable trophies.
  • Toon Link appears as an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a replacement for Young Link. This is the cel-shaded Link as seen in The Wind Waker, and so most of his moves are derived from the game. He is unlocked by playing 400 brawls, beating Classic Mode after completing "The Subspace Emissary" or by meeting him in "The Subspace Emissary". Toon Link is not part of the main story of "The Subspace Emissary" and can only be reached through a door that appears in The Forest after the game is completed. This door takes the player to the Pirate Ship level, where Toon Link attacks the player, seeing him as an intruder. There are three different trophies of Toon Link that can be found - one normal one, one of his Final Smash and one showing him in his normal clothes from The Wind Waker.
  • Within "The Subspace Emissary", Link is first seen within The Forest drawing the Master Sword from its pedestal (accompanied by Navi). However, minions of the Subspace Army then attack, which leads Link to team up with Yoshi (who was napping nearby) in fighting them off. Afterwards, either Link and Yoshi fight a shadow clone of Princess Peach or Mario and Pit fight a shadow clone of Zelda. Either way, it results in either Mario or Link seeing the shadow clone of the princess they knew dissipating, leading him to think that was the real princess and that the other was the enemy. This leads to a battle between Mario and Link, but the misunderstanding is cleared after the battle when the four team up to pursue King Dedede, aided by Kirby. They do not succeed in finding the captured princesses, but they do unite with the main group to travel into Subspace to fight Tabuu. If Link and Zelda were freed from trophy form by Kirby, they then decided to restore Ganondorf so that he could help them in the final battles.
• Link is playable in Soul Calibur II, in which most of his weapons (even the Magical Sword) can be purchased, equipped and used in battle. His backstory says that, after saving Hyrule from an evil magician controlled by the Soul Edge at Zelda's request, he traveled into another world to destroy the Soul Edge itself. In his ending, after sealing the evil away, he returns to the world of Hyrule by playing some sort of song on his ocarina.
• Link was the hero of the unlicensed game, Link: The Faces of Evil a Philips CD-i game. He also appeared as a major character in Zelda: Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure. For more information, see Nintendo Games on Philips CD-i.

Other Media

• Link was the main character in the 13-episode run of Zelda cartoons that ran as alternate segments on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Here Link was portrayed as a young, obnoxious youth who frequently would state "Well excuuuse me, princess!" whenever he was turned down by Zelda. He was voiced by Jonathan Potts. He also made a few cameo appearances on the Captain N show.
• Link has been featured in various manga adaptations of Zelda games over the years, including three different adaptations of A Link to the Past. The first manga adaptation was a The Legend of Zelda manga in 1989, followed by one of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in 1990, both made by Yu Mishasawa..
• The first of the three A Link to the Past adaptations was Shotaro Ishinomori's comic version that was published in Nintendo Power in 1992. In this version, his parents were Knights of Hyrule who were sent into the Dark World, and he was raised by his uncle until he was killed by Aganhim. In this version he instead begins to transform into a wolf in the Dark World (a possible influence on Twilight Princesss) until he rejects his inner darkness. His allies in this version included the fairy Epheremelda, the master archer Roam who also acted as a rival, and a Zora. Link and Zelda defeat Ganon together, and afterwards Link becomes the protector of the Triforce. Link and Zelda's relationship reaches a bittersweet conclusion due to their new duties giving them little time to see each other and it had only been "in their dreams" with the psychic link they shared in the battle against Ganon that they had been close.
• Link was featured in Ataru Cagiva's Link's Awakening manga in 1994. This made only several alterations to the plot. One was yet another fairy sidekick, this time named Felicia and provided by the owl. Additionally, Link and Marin's relationship is given much more emphasis, and after Link finds out the truth about Koholint Island there is a plotline where Link attempts to reject his destiny as the waker of the Wind Fish and leave Koholint on a raft with Marin, but they are unable to escape the island and Link eventually learns to embrace his destiny and finish his quest.
• Link was then featured in Cagiva's adaptation of A Link to the Past in 1995.
• In 1998, he starred in Akira Himekawa's adaptation of Ocarina of Time. This follows a somewhat abbreviated version of Ocarina of Time's story. His background was also explored a bit, with it being said that he was born into the guardian house of Hyrule, and that his father was a knight who was slain in battle. This manga also includes several bonus chapters: a two-part Young Link story showing Link meeting the Skull Kid at an annual Kokiri Festival prior to the main story's events, and an extra Adult Link story which shows him helping the Lake Hylia Laboratory's professor with his research and meeting a member of the birdlike Watara species.
• Link then appeared in the 2000 adaptation of Majora's Mask. This version also for the most part remained loyal to the original version of Link's quest and also specified that Link was searching for Navi.
• Link also appeared in the interconnected adaptations of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages written from 2001 to 2002 by Himekawa. In this depiction, Link was born with a Triforce crest and descended from a family of Hyrule Knights and was raised by his grandparents after the death of his parents. He comes across the Triforce while hiding from soldiers after getting into a fight prior to the annual swordsman contest. In Oracle of Seasons he seeks only the Rod of Seasons instead of the eight Essences and is awakened to hear the voices of nature's spirits, including the young Cucco chick Pyoko who acts similar to a fairy companion. His companions on this quest are Ricky and Maple. In the Oracle of Ages manga, Link teams up with his ancestor Raven as well as Ralph, and together they defeat Veran followed by Ganon. After returning to his grandparents house, it is shown he has changed history and inspired his own name.
• In the 2004 manga adaptation of Four Swords Adventures, Link was shown as a member of Hyrule's knights with his father, but one that preferred to work alone. After being split into four, however, each has a different personality and slowly learn about teamwork as the series progresses. At one point the four are split apart, at which point Purple begins working with Shadow Link but only to learn more about him, Vaati and Ganon and ultimately betrays him. At the end Shadow Link gives his life to allow Vaati to be destroyed, but lives on as Link's actual shadow after Link becomes whole again.
• In 2005, Himekawa's adaptation of A Link to the Past, the third and so far final adaptation of that game, was released. Link was shown to work as a farmer in an apple orchard. Link in the 1992 comic, Link's parents had been trapped into the Dark World and Link's father was a great knight, but this version further expands on the background by having Link's father being a former friend of Aganhim until he turned evil. In this version of the quest he is accompanied by the thief Ganty, who betrays him after learning of his heritage due to thinking Hyrulean knights killed her parents, but later it is revealed that Ganty is another survivor of the knights' family, and she fires the Silver Arrow that finishes Ganon. Afterwards Link opens up "the Hero's Apple Orchard".
• Link was featured in the 2006 manga adaptation of The Minish Cap, which followed an abbreviations version of the game's story with only minor additions and alterations, such as showing Link training at a dojo in the beginning but being considered too young and inexperienced by his master to compete in Hyrule's swordfighting tournament.

Canceled Appearances

• Link was at one point planned to have a cameo appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as one of the partons of the Starbeans Cafe, according to unused text from the game. He would give the Triforce, which was changed to the Great Force in the final version. Link did not speak in this appearance, but the cashier's dialogue pokes fun at the conventions of the Zelda series by calling Link the "Hero of... what is it, now?".

Trivia

• Link is left-handed in all appearances except for the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where he was made right-handed in order to improve gameplay with the Wii remote.

See Also

• Link's Different Forms
• Link's Super Smash Bros. Entry
• List of Appearances by Link