Link

Link (Japanese: リンク Rinku) (Hylian: ) is the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda series. He is almost always depicted as a young boy or a teenager in green clothing who grows to become a hero.

A peculiarity of the character is that there are several different incarnations of Link throughout the entirety of the Legend of Zelda series, although they share a number of distinctive characteristics. The existence of multiple Links is made obvious on many occasions in the games; for example, the introduction sequences of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap refer to an ancient, legendary champion, identical in appearance to Link. Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed this in late 2003.

Attributes
Typically, Link is a courageous boy or young man—it is unlikely that his age ever exceeds eighteen years at any point in the series. In the Legend of Zelda games, he usually leaves his home and relatives at an early age to pursue his destiny and fight Ganon, his archenemy, or other servants of evil. In almost all Legend of Zelda games, except for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link is a child when he begins his quest. Link has no real sword training, with the exceptions of The Wind Waker where he receives training from Orca, Twilight Princess, where he is trained by Rusl and the Hero's Shade, and "Minish Cap," where he trains under the Blade Brothers, as well as Oshus in Phantom Hourglass when he gets his first sword. He also learns spin attack from his uncle in Link to the Past

Link's adventures mostly take place in his native kingdom of Hyrule, although The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass are set in other locales. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker takes place in a flooded Hyrule. Link is closely associated with the Triforce of Courage and thus with the goddess Farore and her color, green. Recovering the Triforce of Courage is key in some Legend of Zelda games, such as Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and The Wind Waker.

The Legend of Zelda titles give few hints at Link's personality; ellipses are invariably used to replace Link's speech with certain exceptions, but his actual words are almost never given. He speaks (or thinks) a few sentences in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and speaks his name in other games, but usually remains silent. Moreover, the top-down 2D view in many of the games is not well-suited to depict his facial expressions. However, he is described as humble and a defining trait of his character seems to be his bravery, an attribute consistent with his role as the rightful bearer of the Triforce of Courage. In The Adventure of Link, it is explicitly stated that the quest for the Triforce of Courage is to be a trial for whomever seeks it. Despite his young age, and the adversity that he has to face, Link rarely shows signs of fear or cowardice.

Appearance
Link invariably wears a green tunic and a cap for at least part of each game, although the shades of green vary. He also wears different-colored clothes in some Legend of Zelda titles, such as the red Goron tunic and the blue Zora tunic, and has possessed several different pairs of boots.

Link's hair color changes throughout the series as well, ranging from brown in the first Legend of Zelda, pinkish in A Link to the Past (Though blond in all official art for the game), pale blonde in Ocarina of Time, gold-blonde in The Wind Waker, and dirty blonde in Twilight Princess.

Link has pointed ears resembling some conceptions of elves. These are apparently a distinctive trait of the Hylian race, supposedly allowing them to hear messages from the gods. The style of his vary however. Adult Link usually wears small blue and/or silver hoop earrings, which is the Hylian fashion.

Several games mention a Triforce mark on Link's left hand; the instruction booklet for The Adventure of Link reveals that this mark identifies him as the champion who will find the Triforce of Courage. This mark is also noticed by Nayru and Din in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons respectively. Twilight Princess is the first game to clearly depict the mark, however. Because the entire game had to be mirrored from left to right due to the Wii Remote being used predominantly with the right hand, it appears in that version on his right hand.

Abilities
At the beginning of nearly every game, Link is just a regular child or young adult with no special skill. At the end of the game, however, Link becomes a full-fledged hero with many abilities.

Link grows to be an exceptional swordsman throughout each game, usually learning powerful sword techniques. In some games, however, his skill with a sword remains consistent. His skill with other weapons and items allows him to easily adapt and master each new tool he acquires. He often employs new weapons in his battles with new enemies just after getting them, almost always during a boss fight, giving him an advantage a lot of times in battle. Link shows himself to be an excellent marksman, what with his skill with a Bow and Arrow, Boomerang, Hookshot, and other projectile weapons.

Link is also very agile, proven as he is able to perform back-flips and somersaults with ease to dodge his enemies' attacks at the very start of his adventures.

Additionally, Link has proven to be very strong physically, as he is usually able to move heavy objects and overpower larger enemies rather easily. In some games he uses special items to help make him stronger.

Link has great proficiency with many instruments, learning how to use them just after getting them. Almost every game has Link using an instrument with incredible powers: like the Ocarina of Time and the Wind Waker.

In the boxing mini-game early on during "Oracle of Seasons", Link is shown to have at least some proficiency in hand-to-hand combat,also in Twilight princess, he is shown the art of sumo wrestling by the mayor of ordon village,; in all other games, Link is shown to be virtually defenseless without a sword or other weapon.

In some circumstances Link even use magic in the form of spells.

Equipment
Link uses various items throughout the Legend of Zelda series. Common items Link finds include the Bow and Arrows, the Hookshot, and bombs. Link often uses musical instruments that unlock strange powers as mentioned before.

Link uses masks in several games. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask has 24 unique masks used for different tasks throughout the game, even transforming him into a Deku Scrub, Goron, or Zora. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has a side quest involving selling different masks for the Happy Mask Salesman to earn the Mask of Truth.

Link also has numerous tunics, clothing, and armor such as the different tunics appearing in Ocarina of Time and the Zora and Magic armors in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Other items in the games include the Boomerang, the numerous Bottles, the Power Glove, the Shovel, and the Fishing Rod.

The Legend of Zelda
Link appears for the very first time in the first Zelda game. Here, he is a hero summoned by Impa, the Royal caretaker to save Princess Zelda from the evil Prince of Darkness, Ganon, who is seeking out the shards of the Triforce of Wisdom. Link finds the pieces before he does, and in the end, destroys Ganon with a Silver Arrow and saves Zelda, who was captured. Link's character and background is given little explanation in the game, and appears to be merely a generic fantasy hero during this incarnation.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Being a sequel set not long after the original Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link features the same Link from that game. Although Ganon has been killed, his army of monsters remain active throughout Hyrule. They plan to revive Ganon by spilling the blood of his murderer, Link, onto his ashes. Impa finds a Triforce mark on Link's hand on his 16th birthday, and explains that he is the hero chosen to awaken an ancient Princess Zelda from her sleeping curse. Link collects the crystals throughout Hyrule's dungeons, and in the end, destroys Dark Link, receives the Triforce of Courage, and awakens Princess Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
A Link to the Past is set far into the future of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and features a different Link, a different Princess Zelda.

In the SNES version of A Link to the Past, Link's Uncle's dying words were: "Zelda is your...". This unfinished sentence led many to speculate on its cryptic meaning. It was believed that the sentence should have been "Zelda is your sister", though this was not confirmed until the Game Boy Advance remake, in which the Uncle's dialogue was rewritten to explicitly state that it is Link's destiny to save Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The fourth Zelda game, Link's Awakening was the first game to take place outside of Hyrule and the main Triforce-Ganon storyline.

Link was traveling across the ocean in a ship when a storm catches him. When he wakes up he is in a strange isle. He is found by a young girl named Marin. Link must first retrieve his shield and sword, for later investigate the island. An Owl tells Link about the dangers of the isle, an tells Link to search for the eight Instruments of the Sirens in each temple to wake up the Wind Fish, the deity of the island.

The Link that stars in this game may be the same Link from A Link to the Past, or the Oracle series, as in the latter he is seen leaving on a ship similar to the one he begins on in Link's Awakening.

In this game, Link, for the first time, has the ability to jump on his own accord with the help of the Roc's Feather.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Many Zelda fans believe that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the first game in the series, making that game's incarnation the first Link.

Link was born during the Hyrulean Civil War, and was left in the Kokiri Forest by his mother, so that he could avoid the violence. From that point onwards, he was raised by the Great Deku Tree. Though he was actually a Hylian, he was raised as a Kokiri, so that he would fit in with his peers. However, unlike the other Kokiri, he didn't have a fairy, and for that reason, he was ridiculed by some of the other Kokiri, Mido in particular. When Link is around the age of ten, Ganondorf places a curse on the Great Deku Tree, and the Great Deku Tree sends Link a fairy, called Navi. Link gets the Deku Shield and the Kokiri Sword, and defeats Queen Gohma, who was part of the curse. After that, the Great Deku Tree bestows Link the spiritual stone upon his death. Saria gives Link the Fairy Ocarina, with which he can play songs important to the gameplay. Link travels to Hyrule Castle, where he meets Zelda. Zelda tells Link about Ganondorf's malicious plans, and sends Link to find the other Spiritual stones.

Link retrieves the two remaining spiritual stones, and sets off for Hyrule Castle Town to place them in the Temple of Time. Before entering the town, Zelda gives him the Ocarina of Time while she is being chased by Ganondorf. Link returns the stones to the Temple of Time, and the Master Sword is revealed to him. However, after pulling the Master Sword from its pedestal, Link is frozen in time for seven years, since the sword did not consider him old enough to carry the title of the Hero of Time. During these seven years, Ganondorf takes over Hyrule. Upon awakening, Link is a young adult of about seventeen years. Rauru, the Sage of Light, informs him of Hyrule's takeover, and instructs him to find the other sages, Darunia, the Sage of Fire, Princess Ruto, the Sage of Water, Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit, Impa, the Sage of Shadow, and Saria, the Sage of Forest. Link gathers the remaining sages, and enters Ganon's Castle. He defeats Ganondorf, in both his Gerudo form and in his moblin-like Ganon form, and frees Hyrule. Zelda then sends Link back in time to before the events of the game occurred. Thus creating a split in the timeline, the events leading to Ganon's defeat in this game leading to the events of wind waker, and in the past, where Ganondorf's plot is uncovered before the events began due to Link's knowledge of the future, leading to the events of Twilight Princess. It is widely believed he made an appearance in Twilight Princess in the form of the Hero's Shade.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
This is the same Link from Ocarina after Zelda returns him to his childhood. He is on a search for a "lost friend" (generally believed to be Navi who left him in the Temple of Time). Link had to save Termina by re-living the same three days over and over (restarting from the first day he arrived in Clock Town) so the moon would not destroy Termina (which was what would happen if the cycle was allowed to complete itself), by using the Ocarina of Time until he released the Four Giants from each of their prisons. He then had to play "Oath to Order" on the Ocarina to summon them at midnight of the third day. Once the Four Giants halted the moon, Link traveled inside with Tatl the fairy and defeated Majora's Mask, Majora's Incarnation and Majora's Wrath and saving Termina on the "Dawn of a New Day." Navi, on the other hand, had never been found.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
This incarnation is already a hero at the beginning of the game, leading to speculation that he is either the Hero of Time or the Link from A Link to the Past. The two games begin very similarly, with Link going to the shrine of the Triforce. Depending on which game, Link either meets Din the Dancer (in Oracle of Seasons), or Nayru the Singer (in Oracle of Ages), and becomes friends with either of them.

Link has the ability to change seasons in Holodrum with the Rod of Seasons and the ability to travel back and forward in time in Labrynna using the Harp of Ages. After finishing both games, he had to foil a plot by Twinrova to revive Ganon using Zelda as a sacrifice. After ending their plans, he sets sail to an unknown destination, which may be concluded in Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
The Link in this story is a different one from Four Swords Adventures. It is set after the Minish Cap and the story begins with Princess Zelda going to check on the seal on Vaati the Wind Mage. Zelda takes Link to the sanctuary. The seal on Vaati has weakened and Vaati has escaped. He kidnaps Zelda to make her his bride. Link sets out to save Zelda and restore the seal on Vaati by drawing the Four Sword to split into three other copies of himself. Together, the four Links work together and Vaati is ultimately defeated and sealed once more in the Four Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
This Link lives on Outset Island in the Great Sea, which is Hyrule after being flooded by the Gods. He is celebrating his 12th birthday, which is customary on the island for receiving the Hero's Clothes to honor the Hero of Time of legend. (Interesting to note is this has sparked rumors that the timelines may know of each other, as the Adult Link timeline would only know of The Hero of Time as an adult and not the age of the child.) Link ventures to the Forsaken Fortress to track down the Helmaroc King who abducted his sister, Aryll, with the help of Tetra the pirate. Link initially fails to rescue Aryll, and Although the game inspires speculation about his possible relation to the hero of time (namely, his family shield which was 'rumored to be used by the hero himself', this theory is discouraged by the King of Red Lions (King of Hyrule), who tells the sea spirit Jabun that 'He appears to have no connection to the ancient one.")

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Link in this game is different from the Four Swords Link. Link is friends with Princess Zelda. When Zelda and the maidens go to the shrine of the Four Sword, Link is tricked into drawing the Four Sword from its pedestal, releasing Vaati, by Shadow Link. Link's soul is split into three other replicas of himself, and the four Links venture to save the maidens and Zelda, who were abducted and trapped in Crystals. Link saves all seven of them, collects four Royal Jewels, climbs the Tower of Winds and defeats Shadow Link and the Dark Mirror in the heavens. In the end, Vaati is killed, and Ganon, who was the mastermind behind all the events, is sealed in the Four Sword by the Links. This Link and his replicas have almost the exact same character design as the Wind Waker Link, even though otherwise the game is not cell-shaded.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Link is the grandson of Smith, the blacksmith for Hyrule Town. He lives just outside the town with his grandfather. After Vaati shatters the Picori Sword, Link is sent to Minish Woods to find the Minish. There he finds Ezlo, his companion throughout the game.

In the game itself, Ezlo catches a ride on Link's head throughout his adventure to defeat Vaati and restore Zelda from her petrified state (a result of Vaati's precaution of her inherent power). Ezlo lets Link shrink down to Minish size to traverse the land of Hyrule with a Minish eye.

Chronologically, The Minish Cap is the prequel to Four Swords and Four Swords Adventure. Like the incarnation in Four Swords Adventures, this Link has almost the exact same character design as Wind Waker Link, other than his hat.

This game is also sometimes considered to be the first game in the series by fans as the introduction mentioned a Hero of Men - not a Hero of Time. A picture depicted the hero in green clothing, but with no hat.

At the end of this game Link acquires the real green hat, as he only had Ezlo as a hat before. Ezlo then said that the hat suited him.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Link is a rancher in Ordon Village who is around 16 years old. He sports a Triforce shaped birthmark on his hand, physical evidence that he possesses the Triforce of Courage from his ancestor of Ocarina of Time, the Hero of Time. One day, Rusl, the town blacksmith, requests Link to be his proxy for a trip to Hyrule to deliver the Ordon Sword and Ordon Shield the Royal Family ordered. As he prepared to leave, King Bulblin kidnaps Ilia and Colin, Link's friends, along with other children, and draws Link into the Faron Province, blanketed with Twilight. The Twilight morphs Link into a wolf.

Link delivers Light back to the Faron Province, with the help of Midna, and awakens as the Chosen Hero, now donning Link's trademark green clothing. Link and Midna venture to collect the Fused Shadows, which can be used to defeat Zant, the king of the Twilight Realm who covered Hyrule in Twilight.

This Link is often referred to by fans as the Hero of Light because of his acts to restore the Light to Hyrule. His Hair also changes from blond to brown

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Link is the same Link as in The Wind Waker. After the ending in The Wind Waker, Link and Tetra set off to find the land that would be the next Hyrule after the former kingdom had been completely destroyed. After Tetra is captured by the Ghost Ship, Link meets a fairy companion who helps him reunite with her. He also meets Linebeck, who helps him by letting him use his ship. He has a new sword, Oshus's Sword, which Oshus lets him have.

Link finds three spirits which allow him to find the Ghost Ship, where Tetra is being held. He saves her, but finds she is made of stone, due to her life force being drained.To do this, Link had to defeat Bellum, an evil being inhabiting the Temple of the Ocean King. But to defeat him, he needed the Phantom Sword, a sword made of the three Pure Metals. After finding these metals, Zauz forges the Phantom Sword and Oshus creates the handle out of the Phantom Hourglass. With the Phantom Sword in hand, Link defeated Bellum and restored peace. At the end it is revealed that the world they explored was another world, so Link and Tetra were sent back.

Allies
Link has fought along with multiple allies. This was first really observed in Majora's Mask in the Kafei and Anju sidequest in which Link controls Kafei. This was explored more in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, where Link controls Medli and Makar in their respective temples. The most notable allies of Link are Link's four duplicates when he pulls the four sword. Other allies like Midna, Tatl, and Navi just give hints and pieces.

Other appearances
Link has appeared in many other non-Legend of Zelda games, as a playable character, an ally or an enemy.

Super Smash Bros. series
Link is one of eight characters available at the beginning of Nintendo's 1999 fighting game, Super Smash Bros. No special information is disclosed about Link in this game. Link sports his traditional green Kokiri tunic (the player can also choose from a few alternate tunic colors inspired by Link's Ocarina of Time tunics, including red (Goron) and blue (Zora); a purplish white color inspired by the effect of the Blue Ring from the original The Legend of Zelda is also present). He also has some of his usual weaponry arsenal from The Legend of Zelda series at his disposal, including bombs, his boomerang and a longshot, and is presented in the Ocarina of Time style as an adult. He also uses his traditional spin attack. Link is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the 2001 sequel to Super Smash Bros. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he comes equipped with his bow in addition to the equipment he brought with him to the original Super Smash Bros. While his swordplay is formidable, Link is at his best when utilizing all his tools and weapons alongside his fighting skill, rather akin to his motif in the Zelda series. This makes Link one of the most versatile and flexible close range fighters in the game, although in both games he suffers from somewhat poor jumping ability. In Melee however, he is given the ability to use his longshot to latch onto the ledge of the arena, giving him a slight edge should his jump not be enough. Link's graphics are based of Ocarina of Time but improved similar to the Space World Expo 2000's, a shot teaser showing Link and Ganondorf battling.

The game also introduces Young Link, the younger version of Link from most of the games in the series, as a secret unlockable character. He is more agile but weaker than the older Link, and he has a hookshot rather than Adult Link's Longshot. As such, his hook range is shorter. His Kokiri Sword and bombs also inflict less damage than adult Link's Master Sword and bombs. Young Link's quiver is stocked with fire arrows rather than traditional arrows. He also jumps considerably higher than Adult Link.

The Twilight Princess version of Link was featured in the newest edition of the series, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Link returns with essentially the same weaponry, except with the Clawshot instead of the hookshot and the Gale Boomerang instead of the regular boomerang. Young Link, in the guise of Toon Link is featured as well. His Final Smash is the Triforce Slash. The Triforce Slash entraps an enemy in a large Triforce shape, allowing Link to repeatedly slice at the enemy, and deliver a final blow. If there is another player directly behind the one in the Triforce Slash, s/he will also take some damage.

Soulcalibur II
Appearing in the GameCube version of Soulcalibur II, Link is shown as a playable fighter in his adult age. Not much is known about the story, but it is known that Link, after saving Hyrule from an evil wizard that was being controlled by a fragment of Soul Edge, goes on a quest to destroy the evil sword. Quickly pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal, he embarked on a secret journey, a journey which Zelda knew nothing about. He left Hyrule to destroy Soul Edge, so that the evil blade would not bring harm to Hyrule or anyone else ever again.

The GameCube version of SCII is said to have been more popular than its PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts; many believe that this is due to Link's presence, since the GameCube is not the most popular sixth generation console among gamers. Link was also notable in this game for being the only character with true projectile attacks (his trusty bow and arrow, boomerang, and bomb) - only Spawn, an Xbox exclusive character, could do the same. Link was also given a unique fighting style on par with any of the "regular" characters, and even had several moves from previous Legend of Zelda games, for instance, a dashing sword attack inspired by the A Link to the Past's Pegasus Boots, the upper and under cut jumping attacks from The Adventure of Link, and a backflip/jump sword attack nearly identical to attacks used in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. As in the Super Smash Bros. series, he had a total of four costumes, although they differed only in color (green, red, blue, and purple), which as it happened was more than any other character had in any version of the game.

Minor cameos
In Final Fantasy, Link's name appears on a tombstone in Elfland. In the original NES translation and the European Origins versions, the tombstone is Erdrick, from Dragon Warrior, but all other versions use the original name.

In many Kirby games, when Kirby obtains the "Sword" ability, he also gains a green cap identical to Link's.

In World of Warcraft, a gnome NPC named Linken makes an appearance in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. He is dressed similarly to Link and gives players quests that, once completed, give the player "Linken's Boomerang" and "Linken's Sword of Mastery". The player also receives a photograph of Linken standing with a female gnome that looks remarkably similar to Princess Zelda.

In ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance & Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the player can obtain a sword known as the Master Sword, which is identical to Link's Master Sword.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Link can be found sound asleep inside Rose Town's inn.

In Shining Soul II - The Master Sword is one of the weapons the player can use.

Popularity
The character Link has been overall well received by critics and fans. In the 1988 and 1989 Nintendo Power Awards given by Nintendo Power magazine, readers voted him as the best character. He was voted by readers as the number one and three "Best Hero" in the 1993 and 1994 Nintendo Power Awards, respectively. In 2005, Link and his creator were awarded stars on the "Walk of Game." Game Informer magazine listed Link as the number one "Hero of 2006."

Link has appeared multiple times in the annual "Character Battle" contests on the popular gaming website GameFAQs, in which players vote for their favorite video game characters, and he is the only character to have won more than once. Also, in one of IGN.com's 2007 "Hero Showdowns," Link was voted the favorite hero.

Trivia

 * It is known that Shigeru Miyamoto originally intended Link to be an adolescent child adventurer as opposed to his form as a young man.
 * Oddly enough, equipment that slows him down while in use does not do so when not in use, even though Link is technically still carrying it. No matter how much equipment he carries, it never affects his speed or agility. For example, he sinks in water only when he wears his iron boots on his feet.  They don't make him sink when in his "pocket."
 * Each Hero (Link) uses a green tunic not only because it represents the goddess Farore who brought life to Hyrule, but because the original Hero, the Hero of Time, wore it as the clothing of his adopted race, the Kokiri, who were renowned for their green clothing befitting life in the forest; the Hero of Time's legend was so great that his successors carried on wearing his traditional garb in homage to his legacy.
 * Although these are not considered technically a part of the Zelda canon, the comic book series published by Valiant were reprinted in Nintendo Power magazine and authorized by Nintendo, so many fans accept them as being factual. According to these, Link was native not to Hyrule, but to a neighboring realm known as Calatia.