Dark Link

Dark Link, also known as Shadow Link, is a recurring antagonist in the Legend of Zelda series. It seems to serve as a doppelgänger of Link. Dark Link appears in many games, but it is uncertain if this is one, single entity or if each game has its own, individual Dark Link, but it is suggested that the same being appears in several games.

Characteristics
Dark Link is everything that Link is not, but at the same time, everything that he is. Everything Link desires, Dark Link wants the opposite. Dark Link holds the same skills as Link, thus making it possible that Dark Link was created from all of the negative thoughts and feelings in Link, but he is filled with evil and a desire to destroy Link. It is also possible that Ganon brought life to Link's shadow using dark and evil magic. Dark Link in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is possibly the same enemy as the one in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It is unclear if Dark Link works for Ganon directly, or merely fights the hero on his own accord as he did in The Adventure of Link.

It seems that multiple Dark Links can be created at the same time, which all seem to be separate entities rather than the iconic villain. These are often identified as "Shadow Links" rather than Dark Links. These are also much weaker and less skilled than Dark Link.

Creation
Dark Link's creation is not often elaborated upon in the games he appears in. However, it is generally assumed that Ocarina of Time reveals his back-story. As Link is traversing through the Water Temple, he comes upon a surreal room matted with water, a skyline, and a small tree in the middle. Link's shadow suddenly leaves the floor without him noticing and hides behind the tree, causing Link to lose his reflection in the water as well. After Link has no success opening the door on the other side of the room, he turns around and is ambushed by a dark version of himself.

The weaker, mass-produced Shadow Links all come from various sources. In Four Swords Adventures, they are continuously spewed out by the magical Dark Mirror, obviously being separate entities from the original Dark Link. In Oracle of Ages, Veran produces four of her own, though they are the weakest to ever be displayed. In the Gameboy Advance version of A Link to the Past, four Shadow Links appear in a hidden dungeon, and it is stated that they represent the final challenge to the Hero before he can claim the Four Sword.

In the non-canonical Four Swords manga, Dark Link is said to be Link's doppelganger from the Dark World; he does evil acts to be noticed, since people turn their backs to their shadows. This Link is also afraid of the light. In the end, he realizes that he is a part of Link, which made him a hero. He destroys the Dark Mirror, killing both Vaati and himself for the sake of the world. Before Dark Link dies, one of the four Links tells him, "You are one of us."

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Dark Link serves as the final boss of the game. Link is forced to fight him after the defeat of the Thunderbird in order to win the Triforce of Courage. Dark Link appears when Link approaches the Triforce of Courage. The lights go out, and Link's shadow jumps away from his body and then proceeds to attack with his sword. He is eventually defeated by Link, who after the ordeal revives Princess Zelda. Dark Link is never described as one of Ganon's servants; the more likely scenario is that he was a final test left for Link by the King who hid the Triforce of Courage. Nor is he at the time referred to as Dark Link. It is possible that he is a separate entity from the incarnation of Dark Link from Ocarina of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Dark Link appears only in the Game Boy Advance port of A Link to the Past. After clearing several sub-challenges included in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and the main game itself, the hidden Palace of the Four Sword appears. In this palace's final room, Link must battle four Shadow Links, each with a different tunic and different powers. Their tunics correspond to the colors of the Links that hold the Four Sword: Green, Red, Blue, and Purple. Each Shadow Link has a different power, and the powers of the previous ones. These powers include using Link's charge, sword beam, a jump attack, and the hurricane blade.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
thumb|300px|left|video of Dark Link fight in OoT Dark Link appears as the mini-boss of the Water Temple, appearing as Link's shadow in a strange, illusionary room. His voice is the same as Links, only with a much deeper pitch. He can use some of the Link's sword attacks and is considered to be one of the most difficult enemies to defeat in the game. He can counter Link's sword attacks easily, and can actually counterattack Link's stab attack by jumping onto Link's sword, pinning it in place, and slashing at Link. Whenever a hit is landed on Dark Link he will drop down into the floor and appear again right behind Link. However, Link can make short work of him using Din's Fire, an unblockable attack, and if he manages to land a hit with the Megaton Hammer, Dark Link will cease defending himself and simply allow himself to be beaten. Biggoron's Sword and the Giant's Knife also work well in this fight, as Dark Link cannot block strikes from these weapons easily. The amount of life Dark Link has depends directly on how many hearts Link has. This makes Dark Link a relatively simple enemy in a three heart challenge.

Dark Link's appearance is that of a black, shimmering version of Link, with a pair of glaring red eyes. He starts out as a slight shimmer, but the more damage dark link has received, the 'darker' he becomes, and the red eyes begin to stand out more. Upon defeat, Dark Link screams and falls through the floor, leaving behind a 15-20 Rupees. The illusionary tree and pond disappear from the room and the door forward opens.

This game marks his first chronological appearance (probably, but debated), but his origins in this game have not been clarified. It could be presumed that this Dark Link survived through the ages to do battle again in Zelda II, but this is never directly suggested and, considering the storyline of that game, seems improbable.

There is also a known Action Replay code, which lets the player fight Dark Link in the Temple of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The game's main antagonist and final boss, Veran, summons multiple copies of Dark Link throughout the battle. These copies are significantly weaker than the real Link, and are mainly used by Veran as a distraction. They cannot attack save for bumping into Link, and drop a heart upon defeat.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
An antagonist in the game, Shadow Link has a very distinct giggle in this game. In order to deceive Link into drawing the Four Sword from its pedestal, Ganon uses Shadow Link. This releases the wind mage Vaati, who abducts the Seven Maidens. Many Shadow Links appear in the game, all mass-produced by the Dark Mirror. However, one of them seems to survive and play as the main copy, but whether this is the iconic Dark Link or not is speculatory.

Many Shadow Links appear to attack the heroes using various tools, such as giant bombs and Link's own weaponry. They can assume the coloration of one of the four Links, requiring that particular one to defeat it. Shadow Link is defeated near the end of the game when Zelda and Link seal him along with the rest of his copies back into the Dark Mirror.

A cheat from a Gameshark can also allow Link to take on the appearance of a Shadow Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In a flashback sequence told to Link by Lanayru, three Dark Links are used to symbolize the Dark Interlopers that once attempted to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm. Dark Link is not fought, however, and is merely a visual tool.

The player can also see what may be another possible cameo by sending Link into the basement of his home; Link should wield the lit lantern and use it to navigate his way across the room to a mirror, then extinguish the lantern. Link's reflection in the dark strongly resembles Dark Link.

Super Smash Bros. series
Dark Link makes a cameo appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee as the opponent in the event match Link's Adventure, though it is just Link at Level 9 in a black "skin".

Dark Link is playable as a palette swap for Link in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and also appears as a boss in event mode, where he has 200HP. However, in the image in which he is seen as a boss in event mode, he doesn't use the palette swap, but instead appears completely black, similar to the Dark Link in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Strangely, his damage meter shows the picture of his palette swap. Also, Toon Link, another playable character based on Link's Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker appearence, has the dark skin as well.

Comics and Manga
In the manga version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Dark Link makes one appearance. While Link is training with Impa in Kakariko Village, Dark Link appears from the well and attacks Link.He seemed to know every move Link had except one move Link had seen Impa do but never did himself until he used it to defeat Dark Link. But the fight continues when he quickly reappears on "Dark Epona" and Link mount's Epona for a horse back battle where Dark Link is quickly slain.

In the manga of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Shadow Link appears and is expanded upon. When he first appeared, he easily defeated the four Links as the four sword had lost its power. Later, he attempts to tempt the purple Link to evil and otherwise to sabotage the Link's mission. This failed, as the Purple Link was lying to him all along, and then joins with the other Links and bests 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 Gufuu's weak point. However, he soon realizes that as long as the Dark Mirror exists, Gufuu will be invincible, and destroys the mirror, despite warnings from Gufuu that he would die if the mirror was destroyed, which turned 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". He is later said when dying, "Shadows stay behind their masters, but I turned it around and defeated y'all's enemy." After this, he then turned into light.