A decade after the game was released, Akira Himekawa was finally given permission to make a manga adaptation that manages to raise the already existing Nightmare Fuel from the game to frightening new heights, adding elements that manage to make one of the darkest games in the Zelda franchise even darker.
Volume 1
- The very first chapter of the manga shows Zant's takeover of the Twilight Realm by using a dark magic fog to turn any Twili who inhales it into a Shadow Beast under his control. One Twili tries to warn Midna to run before he ends up transformed.
- Zant's goal in the manga, apart from spreading Twilight all over Hyrule, is to obtain the pieces of the Fused Shadow and become even more powerful. The game shows us what the Fused Shadows can do to ordinary beings like turning the Goron Chief Darbus into a raging fire monster, so imagine what they can do in the hands of a psychopath who already has powerful magic at his disposal.
- Zant faces off against Midna in an attempt to take her fragment of the Fused Shadow. It's not even a contest. He defeats her effortlessly. The Hero's Shade attempts to attack Zant, only for Zant to vaporize him on the spot. It really shows how powerful Ganondorf's magic has made him.
- The next chapter is pretty tame for the most part, mainly focusing on Link's life in Ordon Village... but then comes the ending, where a Shadow Beast emerges from a Twilight Portal and makes its way to the village...
- Chapter 3 begins with Link having a nightmare where he is chased through a dark realm by gigantic, demonic hands. He tries to run, but the darkness quickly closes in on him, causing him to wake up. And he says that this isn't the first time he's had that dream.
- Remember how Barnes mentioned (in the game) that the Shadow Beasts can turn others into Shadow Beasts? Well, Chapter 4 lets us see it firsthand when a Shadow Beast grabs one of the Ordon villagers, causing a stone mask to form on his face and turning him into a Shadow Beast.
- Link gets a Dark and Troubled Past in the manga. He was raised in a military village that bordered Gerudo Desert that acted as border security. One day, Link is goaded by his friends into pulling a forbidden sword that no one else has been able to pull. Because of the Triforce of Courage, he's able to pull it and unwittingly summons the Hero's Shade, who drags him underground. When he reawakened, his entire village was wiped off the face of the earth. He's been haunted by it ever since, feeling responsible.
- King Bulbin's attack on Ordon Village is far more graphic here. He leads a full on attack on the village and in the chaos captures Colin and Illia. But what really puts it here is his threat to Illia:King Bulbin: This one is pretty...I'll make her mine.
- And when Link tries to save her and wounds King Bulbin in the process, King Bulbin retaliates by cutting off Link's arm with his axe. (Thankfully, the Light Spirit Ordona heals him.)
Volume 2
- Ganondorf's execution, as shown in Chapter 9, is far more brutal. In the game, he survives being impaled and manages to kill one of the Sages before being banished to the Twilight. Here? Not only is he impaled, but the Evil King doesn't even get a chance to escape from his shackles before being sucked into the Twilight portal. And the portal's strength is strong enough to strip Ganondorf's skin and muscles clean off, leaving nothing but bones and armor.
- Midna actually threatens to leave Wolf-Link to die in the cell where he's chained if he doesn't do as she says. And her threat is... kind of disturbing.Midna: Or would you rather stay four-legged...and bound by chains...until you die in this cell?
- The vision of Wolf Link's decomposing corpse, complete with an exposed rib cage, is the cherry on top.
Volume 6
- A lot of Chapter 36 basically amounts to a Mook Horror Show featuring a fully empowered Link, who has become a borderline Smug Super thanks to the Master Sword. He effortlessly slashes his way through a group of Bokoblins, the resurrected Diababa and Stallord, and finally brutalizes King Bulblin with a Breaking Speech over how weak he is.
- Dark Link makes a full-fledged appearance, the result of Link's inner arrogance and insecurity. Unlike his previous portrayals, he's a straight-up Invincible Villain, and the hero can't even attack the phantom without feeling the pain himself. The cherry on top is when Link briefly hallucinates his opponent as a flesh-and-blood version of himself, and the reader gets to see Dark Link’s ear-to-ear Slasher Smile on the Hero of Twilight's face.
Volume 9
- Chapter 47 shows what happens when a Shadow Beast tries to break away from Zant's control. When Midna tries to reach out to what used to be her librarian, the retainer undergoes a Painful Transformation into an even more hideous monster, complete with extra arms, a mouthful of fangs, and a long tongue.
Volume 10
- Puppet Zelda is even more disturbing on panel than in the game, having facial expressions and eyes that perfectly match Ganondorf's.
