History Characters / TheLegendOfZeldaLink

!![[center: [-'''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaTheTriforceWielders The Triforce Wielders:]]''' Link, [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaPrincessZelda Princess Zelda]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganon/Ganondorf]]-]]][[center:[-'''Other Recurring:''' [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGoddessesAndAllies Goddesses and Allies]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaVillainsAndEnemies Villains and Enemies]], [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaRaces Races]]-]]][[center: [-'''By Game:''' ''Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''Characters/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle games]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaTriForceHeroes Tri Force Heroes]]'', ''[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''-]]]

* TheSouthpaw: [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Except on the Wii]] and in ''Breath of the Wild''. Interestingly, early official art for the first game shows him holding his sword in his right hand. The left-handedness came about because of his AmbidextrousSprite appearance in that game, and it was decided to make the southpaw status canon.

* MaybeEverAfter: While Link and Zelda have never been outright confirmed as an OfficialCouple, it's been implied many, many times.

** The Rito in ''Breath of the Wild'' ''believe'' that the Master Sword is this to their contemporary Link, but for complicated reasons, it actually isn't.

* AncestralWeapon: ''Twilight Princess'' Link is a descendant of the Hero of Time, making the Master Sword this.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: Certain Links are continuing their stories from a previous installment (usually in a new land), such as the one from ''The Adventure of Link'' being the same Link from the first game, but going on a new quest to awaken a (different) princess. The Link from ''Breath of the Wild'' is one of these despite not having starred in a previous game; before being caught up in the adventure, he was already a knight. [[spoiler:Specifically, he was Princess Zelda's personal bodyguard, and had quite a good deal of practical experience in battle.]]

* MagikarpPower: Link almost always starts very weak, with low health and few options for either combat or puzzle solving. He ends his adventures much, much stronger with all kinds of tools and abilities. The most notable example is the Link from ''Breath Of The Wild'', who easily starts as the weakest version of the character and ends as the strongest. Distant seconds are the Links from ''Link to the Past'' and ''Link Between Worlds'', due to their sword and armor upgrades on top of the usual.

* ParentalAbandonment: In almost every single one of his incarnations. Before ''Breath of the Wild'' he closest he ever came to having parents was ''Ocarina of Time'' (in which they were revealed to be dead). [[{{Nephewism}} He gets to have an uncle]] in ''A Link to the Past'' and [[RaisedByGrandparents a Grandma and Grandpa]] in ''Wind Waker'' and ''The Minish Cap'' (respectively). ''Breath of the Wild'' states Link's father is a knight (and Link is following in his footsteps) and flashbacks imply he's still alive at the time of the Calamity, but by the time the you begin the actual game he's almost certainly dead, if not by the Calamity then by old age.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: Even his adult incarnations are always pointedly shorter than other Hylians, sometimes even including their respective Zeldas, but Link is consistently the most heroic, accomplished and courageous being in Hyrule.

* GuestFighter: In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur II]]'' on the [=Gamecube=], or at least his ''[[VideoGame/OcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''/''[[VideoGame/MajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' [[LegacyCharacter incarnation]].

** The Link from Twilight Princess is canonically a bloodline descendant of the Hero of Time. Whether he got married or simply had a single romantic evening, that Link passed on his genes one way or another.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: The only unambiguous related Links are from ''Ocarina of Time'', ''Twilight Princess'' (the latter is the former's descendant) and ''Wind Waker'' (they had no connection to the previous Link, at least until earning it). The relation between Link's other incarnations could be blood, reincarnation, or just happening to resemble each other (as it continued despite the cycle supposedly being broken in ''Wind Waker''), but never explored.

** In the last decade or so, Link's appearance has largely standardized to just two blond models: the young "Toon Link", and the older more realistic teenage Bishonen. Previous Links had different hair colors like brown or auburn, and the art style shifted wildly. He even had pink hair in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. Today Nintendo seems content to just stick with just these current two styles.

* MultiMeleeMaster: While Link has always used multiple tools and gadgets to supplement his sword, Breath of the Wild is the first game to show that he is completely unmatched in using almost ''anything'' as a primary melee weapon: spears, hammers, two-handed broadswords, magic wands, magic blades, tree branches, torches, axes, metal boomerangs and more. In fact, he can go the entire game without ever using a one-handed sword. About the only weapon he's never seen using are his bare hands.

* CosmicKeystone: He is the destined bearer of the Triforce of Courage, ⅓ of a divine wish-granting artefact.

* KidHero: [[CaptainObvious Though only when he's a kid]].

* AmbiguouslyRelated: The only unambiguous related Links are from ''Ocarina of Time'', ''Twilight Princess'' (the latter is the former's descendent) and ''Wind Waker'' (they had no connection to the previous Link, at least until earning it). The relation between Link's other incarnations could be blood, reincarnation, or just happening to resemble each other (as it continued despite the cycle supposedly being broken in ''Wind Waker''), but never explored.

** This doesn't apply to the manga adaptations, where Link actually can speak and the reader actually sees what he's saying to whoever he is with.

* BadassBiker: In ''Mario Kart 8'', seeing as his default vehicle is a motorbike, along with the Master Cycle Zero in Breath of the Wild DLC.

* WolverinePublicity: "Toon Link" is the most recurring design of Link throughout the series, having appeared in seven games out of nineteen and being near-identical in each. But in marketing and spin-off, the ''Ocarina of Time'' (adult), ''Twilight Princess'' and ''Breath of the Wild'' designs get this despite being exclusive to one game each. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' uses those three designs as the "default" Link.

* ParentalAbandonment: In almost every single one of his incarnations. Before ''Breath of the Wild'' he closest he ever came to having parents was ''Ocarina of Time'' (in which they were revealed to be dead). [[{{Nephewism}} He gets to have an uncle]] in ''A Link to the Past'' and [[RaisedByGrandparents a Grandma and Grandpa]] in ''Wind Waker'' and ''The Minish Cap'' (respectively). Breath of the Wild states Link's father is a knight (and Link is followiung in his footsteps) and flashbacks imply he's still alive at the time of the Calamity, but by the time the you begin the actual game he's almost certainly dead, if not by the Calamity then by old age.

* ParentalAbandonment: In every single one of his incarnations. The closest he ever came to having parents was ''Ocarina of Time'' (in which they were revealed to be dead). [[{{Nephewism}} He gets to have an uncle]] in ''A Link to the Past'' and [[RaisedByGrandparents a Grandma and Grandpa]] in ''Wind Waker'' and ''The Minish Cap'' (respectively), but that's about it.

* InstantExpert: ...unless it's this. Give him a new toy, no matter how bizarre, and Link will be wielding it like a natural in a matter of minutes.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: The only unambiguous related Links are from ''Ocarina of Time'', ''Twilight Princess'' (the latter is the formers descendent) and ''Wind Waker'' (they had no connection to the previous Link, at least until earning it). The relation between Link's other incarnations could be blood, reincarnation, or just happening to resemble each other (as it continued despite the cycle supposedly being broken in ''Wind Waker''), but never explored.