Shadow Link


 * This article is about the character from Four Swords Adventures. For the recurring antagonist, see Dark Link.

Shadow Link is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. This near-identical copy of Link is frequently seen causing trouble throughout the course of the game. Sometimes Link will be forced to fight Shadow Link, while other times he will simply be required to evade him.

Shadow Link first appears when Princess Zelda and the Six Maidens go to check on the seal of the Four Sword. When all seven are captured, Link follows Shadow Link back into the Four Sword Sanctuary. When Link travels inside, Ganon uses Shadow Link to convince Link to pull the Four Sword, thus releasing Vaati.

Though Shadow Link is defeated frequently throughout the game, he is not ultimately defeated until near the end of the game when Zelda and Link seal him and his other copies back into the Dark Mirror.

Although there is one primary Shadow Link, many exist. They are continuously spewed out by the magical Dark Mirror.

Battle
Shadow Link attacks in nearly the same way as Link does. He can use many weapons from Link's arsenal with the addition of Giant Bombs. To defeat Shadow Link, Link must slash him with his sword while avoiding Shadow Link's attacks.

Shadow Link can also assume the coloration of one of the four Links, requiring that particular Link to defeat him. When Shadow Link stops and begins panting, one final attack will subdue him.

As the game progresses, Link is faced with more and more Shadow Links at one time. If Link destroys the original Shadow Link, however, the remaining clones will automatically be destroyed. He also lets loose a high-pitched scream when defeated.

Video
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Manga
In the manga, Shadow Link's origins is expanded upon and his character is fleshed out. When he first appears, he easily defeats the four Links as the Four Sword has lost its power. Later, he attempts to tempt the purple Link to evil and otherwise to sabotage the Links' mission. This fails, as the Purple Link is revealed to having been lying to him all along, and then joins the other Links, besting Dark Link. He is later recreated by the Dark Mirror. Although he is commanded to fight against the Links, he chooses to help them by pointing out Vaati's weak point. However, he soon realizes that as long as the Dark Mirror exists, Vaati will be invincible, and destroys the mirror, despite warnings from Vaati that he will die if the mirror is destroyed, which turns out to be true. Before dying, he reconciles with the other Links. His nature is explained as "the shadow version of Link from the Dark World" and before dying, he says that "Shadows stay behind their masters, but I turned it around and defeated the enemy myself. It felt...pretty good..." After this, he turns into light. After the four Links were fused back into one, he became Link's shadow