The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Darkness

The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Darkness is an independent film based on The Legend of Zelda series, created by Titus Studios. Production began in 2004 and ended in 2008. In the same year, it was released on YouTube as well as a separate DVD. A sequel to the film is planned, but its title and release date remains uncertain.

Prologue
The film starts with the telling of the legend of the Cycle of Eternity, with the Skull Kid narrating. It shows Ganon assasinating the King of Hyrule with his sword and killing the Royal Guards as well. He spots a maiden who has witnessed the murder, but lets her go out of arrogance. He then raises his arms, the Triforce appearing above him. The Skull Kid then declares:

"In a world of darkness and fear, a hero would arise."

It is then that Zelda arrives, accompanied by the Hero of Time and six Sages. The Hero duels Ganon and strikes him down, allowing the Sages to seal him away to the Sacred Realm. The narration ends with a Sage laying a book down on an altar and the Skull Kid declaring:

"This ancient harmony between the dark one, the princess, and the Hero of Time, was a Cycle, repeating century after century at the edge of a knife. But what would happen if someone... evened the scales?  As they say, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it."

The scene then cuts to a hallway where two Hyrulean guards stand. Two figures then come out of a door, the Skull Kid, and Prince Ertegun of Gerudo Valley. As they pass by, Zelda, the descendant of the Zelda shown in the prologue, comfronts Ertegun about the treaty the Gerudo Prince has given her father, the king (which is designed to give Ertegun the entire kingdom). Zelda suspects that Ertegun has bewitched the King and his royal council, which is the only reason they signed the treaty. Ertegun however, fecicously claims that they signed it of their own accord and he only came forth with the treaty so that Gerudo Valley and Hyrule could ally to create a stronger military force. Zelda, knowing that Ertegun is a descendant of Ganon, is well aware of Ertegun's lust for power. Seeing through Ertegun's facade, she reminds him of the Hero of Time, and that he was not invincible.

Link
The story cuts to Link and his younger brother Kyrin, who live on a farm. They live alone, both of their parents having died prior to the movie. They wake to do chores (including chopping wood with a hatchet) and plan to go fishing later. Later, two of Ertegun's soldiers pass by, looking at Link threateningly. However, Link holds his ground, holding his hatchet in his hand and staring back. As the soldiers head toward Miss Malon's farm, Link explains to Kyrin that Ertegun has taken over half of the kingdom of Hyrule through the treaty with the king (the other half remains untouched due to Zelda refusing to sign. It is the Village Elder who suspects that Ertegun bewitched the council to gain their trust (which is obviously true).

Meanwhile, Ertegun conspires with the Skull Kid (who serves as Ertegun's advisor and bodyguard) in an unknown place in Hyrule Castle, venting his frustration with Zelda, who still refuses to sign the treaty. The Skull Kid is impressed by Zelda's will, but doesn't seem surprised, stating she's known of Ertegun's plan to take over Hyrule all along. Though Ertegun suggests killing Zelda, the Skull Kid objects noting they need her for their plan do succeed, and points out the "third". One of Ertegun's soldiers approaches, stating that he and his men have lost their supplies to a thief. Ertegun, his frustration only increasing, orders the nervous soldier to get some more and go back to the village where he was posted. The Skull Kid then suggests that Ertegun go to the village himself to "regain some credibility", an idea to which Ertegun gleefully accepts.

Later, Link and Kyrin go fishing, where they speak of the deaths of their parents and what it's been like enduring life as farm boys and orphans. Here, it is learned that their mother died from illness and their father died serving as a soldier in battle. Link blames his death on a loss of passion caused by the death of his wife. It was this that lead them to living on their farm alone, with only the Village Elder to aid them raise it. Though Link modestly believes that it was only because of the Village Elder that they are able to survive, Kyrin also gives graditude to Link, stating that it took a lot of courage to raise the farm alone.

On their way home (after they failed to catch anything), the two brothers come across Malon's farm. Link discovers her being pushed for a fine by Ertegun, who seeks to compensate for the supplies stolen earlier. Link, realizing that it was Kyrin who took the food, angrily heads home with his younger brother. At night, they are approached by Ertegun and his a guard of his nicknamed "Lumpy". Link refuses to pay the fine at first, but realizes he has no choice when Ertegun threatens to burn the farm down otherwise. Paying the fine of 140 rupees, Link ponders on how he what he should do, now that most of their money has now been spent on the fine.

Meanwhile, the same guard who came to Ertegun earlier, encounters the Skull Kid, having been ordered to face him as punishment for losing the supplies. He arrogantly charges, but is held back when the Skull Kid draws his whip and brutally attacks.

Rise of a Hero
At Hyrule Castle, Ertegun shows Zelda the results of his actions at Link's village, while Zelda has a premonition of a farm boy. Not knowing what it means, Zelda still refuses to Ertegun's treaty, knowing that Ertegun will abuse the people of Hyrule either way. During this conversation, Ertegun reveals the farm boy, Link, the "only one with the courage to stand up to him". These words spark Zelda's mind, and she realizes what her premonition meant.

Meanwhile, Link garbs his father's uniform (the green uniform worn in the games), heading to Hyrule Castle to demand his the rupees that Ertegun took through extortion. After long traveling, the boy reaches the castle.

Meanwhile, Skull Kid and Ertegun meet once again, Skull Kid having apparently returned from fighting the guard, obviously having won and conducted some "business" (suggesting he tortured and killed him). Ertegun remains ever frustrated at his inability to manipulate Zelda. Skull Kid mocks the frustrated prince, and suggests one final option: marriage to Princess Zelda.

As Link enters the castle after persuading the gatekeeper to let him through, Link is blindfolded by Aaron, one of the Royal Guards and the few soldiers still loyal to the king, and is brought before Princess Zelda. Zelda tells him of the "Legend of Zelda", of how the universe was created by the power of the Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore. While Nayru and Farore wanted their creation to govern itself, Din wished to rule with an iron fist, and sought out a man from the Gerudo Desert named Ganon to aid. Din attempted to give the Triforce to Ganon, but failed. Instead, the Triforce of Power was granted to Ganon, Wisdom to the princess of Hyrule, and Courage to a farm-boy.

Characters
Dan Hogan as Link: The next in the long lineage of the Hero of Time. He starts off as a farm boy, his mother having been poisoned and his father having died in battle. This is what left him alone with his younger brother Kyrin. He never knew of the full extent of his parents' death, and seems to think badly of his father. During Ertegun's rise to power and when Zelda discovers that he himself is the Hero, he trains under Davik, his uncle and one of the Royal Guards, to combat this new threat.

He is already gifted with a sword, a skill he inherited from his uncle, which makes his training as the Hero more adaptable.

Natalie Feldbusch as Zelda: The princess of Hyrule and descendant of the other Zelda from when the Cycle began. Gifted with the Triforce of Wisdom, she possesses wisdom far beyond her years and can use a limited amount of magic. She hints at feelings for Link, to whom she calls upon to combat Ertegun's threat

Michael Stevenson as Davik: Link's uncle, one of the Royal Guards, and the Sage of Darkness. When Kyrin is apparently killed, Davik takes Link and trains him in the arts of the warrior in order to prepare him for his duties as the Hero. It's later revealed that he serves under Ganon, and as such was setting the stage for his arrival, filling Link's heart with hate and malice through their training, aiding Ertegun in conquering Hyrule as the Skull Kid and embedding Ganon's soul into Ertegun, while convincing Ertegun that he served him. Truly, he serves not Ertegun, not Ganon, but himself, and is fixated on one goal: the end of the Cycle of Eternity which he despises. He survives at the end and is now on the run from Link, with Kyrin as either hostage or follower. Though it is unknown what he plans with Kyrin and what his next course of action will be, it is clear that he is ever determined to see the Cycle come to an end.

As the Sage of Darkness, Davik can manipulate the element of shadow, and likely other forms of magic as well. The only form of magic he's seen performing is changing his voice while disguised as the Skull Kid. Davik also taught Ertegun how to perform dark magic, eluding to the fact that Davik may be far more powerful then he shows. He will almost certainly use magic in the sequel. Davik is also the last of the Sheikah warriors, and so is an extremely proficient fighter, being ambidextrous, trained in all forms of combat, and possesses an extreme tolerance to pain. He lost his right hand and some parts of his fingers on his left hand when he killed Link's father, but operates with only his left hand easily. Davik is responsible for the deaths of both of Link's parents, one of whom was his own sister. This makes him the most hated enemy of Link. Davik is highly intelligent, being able to develop a complex master plan that not even Zelda or Ganon anticipated. Despite this, he also shows signs of psychopathy, being an extreme sadist and is unable to feel empathy. This is mainly anticipated when he poisoned his own sister to bring about the undoing of Link's father (he also felt betrayed by her) and when he gleefully and brutally murdered Link's father later. His malicious and sadistic persona showed itself even after he lost his right hand. He is also hinted to be a narcissist.

Though he was portrayed by Michael Stevenson, his voice as Skull Kid was portrayed by Dan Hogan, who found it fun to have a voice that "wasn't coming out of his own mouth".

Davik was based off of many characters from other franchises, including the Joker from The Dark Knight and Henri Ducard from Batman Begins. Though he wasn't based off this character, he had a striking similarity to Dimentio from Paper Mario.

Connor Osborn as Ertegun: The prince of Gerudo Valley and young descendant of Ganon. As the descendant of Ganon, he has inherited the dark magic that his ancestor possessed, but cannot use it as well as the Dark One himself. He has a lust for power and a short temper, longing to gain control of Hyrule, assasinate the king, and take the Triforce for himself. He also seems to desire Princess Zelda. However, Ertegun in the end proved be little more then a tool of the Sage of Darkness.

When Connor was asked about his character, he said: "Ertegun's kind of like this inexperienced villain; he tries to look tough, he tries to act tough, but really he just doesn't know what he's doing."

Blake Henderson as Kyrin: Link's younger, 12 year old brother. He was only three when his mother passed away. He was with Link when they grew up on the farm. He looked up to Link, though felt as if he were looked down upon. He is apparently killed by Ertegun as to make Link suffer before he died, but was later shown alive in a post-credits scene. It is unknown where his allegiance currently lies, but it is known that he is held by Davik, whether hostage or ally is unknown.

It is implied by Link's heritage as the Sage of Darkness that he is one as well. This may help to give him a crucial role in the sequel; one bigger then his previous.

Nick Brys as Ganon: The prince of Gerudo Valley and the one refered to in legend as the Dark One. Due to possessing the Triforce of Power, he is immortal and has control over powerful dark magic. He has failed to gain the Triforce many times, being sealed away by the different incarnations of the Hero of Time and the princess of Hyrule. However, each time he has returned, he has killed a Sage, the only ones with the power to seal him away. And this time, he has a new ally in the form of the Sage of Darkness, who has come to "even the scales", though for his own agenda.

Ganon wields two ancient blades, one known as the Black Sword, the other the White Sword. He seems to prefer the Black Sword more, however.

Steve Hogan as the Village Elder: The Sage of Light and the elder of Link's village. He has helped Link to raise his farm and raised him as a father figure. He was once a close friend of Davik, until he betrayed the Sages. The Village Elder attempted to save Kyrin's life and the village when Ertegun arrived with four poultry warriors, but was repelled by Davik, who killed his squire and forced him to flee. He later told Link the truth of what had transpired, helping to rid him of the vengeance in his heart. He is later killed by Ganon while defending Zelda, but with his last breath, manages to tell Link "Mudora".

Josh Dixon as Aaron: One of the Royal Guards and Zelda's bodyguard. He is the most loyal of the Royal Guards and the only one who didn't turn. He appears to be the most skilled fighter in the movie, using lightning fast and powerful strikes with his short katana to penetrate his opponents' defenses. He seems to hold his skills with pride, flourishing the opportunity to use these skills whenever possible. During his last appearance in the film, he is struck with a purple fireball thrown by Ertegun. Though he appears to have been killed by this, it is hinted by Josh Dixon, the director and the person who played Aaron that he may have survived (likely due to Ertegun not having truly wanted to kill him).

Dan Hogan as "Lumpy": A soldier who serves under Ertegun. Though his true name is never revealed, he is nicknamed "Lumpy" by Link due to his hunched appearance. While he does not appear to be human, it is unknown what kind of creature he is exactly, though he is most likely a moblin. He is killed near the end of the film by Zelda after a failed attempt to kill the princess while she was searching for the Book of Mudora.