Summary
The protagonist of the critically acclaimedThe Legend of Zeldafranchise,Link, isone of the most beloved characters in video game history. Since he’s basically the embodiment of heroism, honor and selflessness, he has been responsible for some truly amazing feats that changed theLegend of Zeldauniverse for the better.
When people are talking about Link, they don’t mean one singular character, but many iterations of the same person. Thanks to themightyTriforce, he will always reincarnate to defeat evil. If every version of Link is considered to be one single character, their collective accomplishments are some of the greatest achievements not only within his franchise but in all gaming.
TheDivine Beastsare some of the most impressive pieces of Sheikah machinery in the entireLegend of Zeldatimeline. These four titanic mechanical animals were specifically created to assist in the fight againstCalamity Ganon. However, the battle was lost the moment thatthis evil entity killed the Four Championsand took control of their Divine Beasts.
100 years later and during the events ofBreath of the Wild, Link wakes up once again and slowly makes his way to every single Divine Beast, neutralizing them and eliminating the Blight residing inside each one of them in the process. If it wasn’t for this heroic action, defeating Calamity Ganon for good at the end of the game would’ve been almost impossible.
The Triforce is one of those odd narrative elements that,despite being super important to the overall plotof the franchise, has made very few physical appearances. But there have been a few notable occasions in which Link not only found the Triforce but also managed to completely reform it.
The very first game in the series is all about Link finding the scattered pieces of theTriforce of Wisdomin order to stop Ganon, who was in possession of theTriforce of Power. He would later find theTriforce of Couragein the sequel, finally forming the entire ultimate power. After that, many others of Link’s incarnations managed to reform the Triforce again, like inA Link to the Pastor inWind Waker, which was especially memorable because of how frustrating this quest was for most players.
TheMaster Swordis the most legendary weapon in this franchise. Also known as the “Sword that Seals the Darkness”, this blade can’t be wielded by anybody, as only the Chosen Hero can make use of its powerful abilities. And almost every single version of Link was deemed worthy of it. Although the specific conditions for obtaining the Master Sword vary from game to game.
InOcarina of Time, Link had to gather the three Spiritual Stones and learn the Song of Time. InTears of the Kingdom, Link retrieves the bladefrom the top of the Light Dragon’s head(who was later revealed to be Princess Zelda). And it all started inSkyward Swordwhen that version of Link forged Master Sword for the very first time. Regardless of the game, every occasion on which Link obtains this sword, it’s always one of the most epic & heroic moments in all of his adventures.
TheLegend of Zeldatimeline is infamous for being quite convoluted sinceit is split into three branching timelines. This separation was caused because of the events ofOcarina of Time, and it depends entirely on whether Link has defeatedGanondorfor not.
While there’s a timeline set in a universe where Link failed and another one set in a world where he went back in time to when he was a child, there’s also the impressiveAdult Timeline. This one was created when Link managed to defeat the evil Ganondorf once and for all. The fact that his actions managed to have this huge of an impact on the entire timeline is truly an amazing feat, and it shows how important to this universe he truly is.
Majora’s Maskpresents what is arguably the darkest plot in the entire franchise. In this game,Skull Kid–who was possessed by the evil mask,Majora– is not threatening to conquer the world, but to completely destroy it by making the moon fall on the land of Termina. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure.
A very young version of Link from the Child Timeline managed to use his ocarina to relive the same 3 days over and over, in order to summon theFour Giantsand stop the moon from ending the world, which was no easy task. On top of that, Link also defeated Majora, saving Skull Kid from its possession, and even befriended this once-lonely kid.
Since it’s chronologically situated at the very beginning of the timeline,Skyward Swordintroduces the terrifying villain known asDemise. Also known as the Demon King,he’s the evil mastermind behind all the evil creatures in the world, and he’s pretty much responsible for the events of the entire franchise. He is even assisted by his evil servant,Ghirahim.
Unfortunately, Ghirahim eventually managed to resurrect his master, so it was up to Link & Fi to defeat him and seal both of them away. After a long and challenging battle, the hero defeats the Demon King, but not before Demise warns him that an incarnation of his hatred is going to cause Link and Zelda a lot of trouble in the future, setting in motion the events of all the other installments in the series.
The reincarnation of Demise’s hatred was none other thanGanondorf– known in his monster form as Ganon – a villain so evil that he’s considered to be even more powerful and influential than Demise himself, as he appeared in more gamesand is the main antagonist of the entire franchise.
Every single version of Ganondorf is a huge threat to the entire world. He’s an evil mastermind who knows how to manipulate others to his advantage, a powerful sorcerer with many tricks up his sleeve, and can even turn into an intimidating pig-like monster (And on one occasion, into a giantDemon Dragon). There have been instances in which not even death was enough to stop him, as he could still pull the strings even when he was technically not alive.
But regardless of the timeline, the setting or the incarnation, Link will always defeat Ganondorf in an intense yet epic final encounter, proving that good will always triumph over evil. If it wasn’t for this incredible hero, theLegend of Zeldauniverse would never know peace. And that’s a great achievement in and of itself.
