Link

Link is the main protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series and the playable character in every game of the series, starting with the titular The Legend of Zelda. He is usually depicted as wearing a green tunic and a sword and a shield for his main weapon. Many incarnations of Link, as well as Princess Zelda, appear throughout the series. Each incarnation of Link is part of the Hylian race, and in the games, he is either a child, a teenager, or a young adult.

All of Link's adventures involve him trying to stop a force of evil, usually the series' main antagonist, Ganon. The game is usually set in Hyrule, where Link travels around an expansive overworld and endures trials within dungeons, each having a boss at the end. As he progresses in his journey, Link obtains more items and weapons that help him along the way. At the final boss, who is usually Ganon, Link is usually required to use a legendary weapon (such as the Master Sword or Silver Arrows). Sometimes Link has to rescue a damsel in distress, such as Zelda.

One of Link's main attributes is his courage. In many games, a mark of the Triforce appears on Link's hand, showing that he bears the Triforce of Courage.

Creation
When The Legend of Zelda was being developed, Nintendo wanted the main character to be identifiable by players, like Mario, largely due to the technical limitations of the Famicom. Shigeru Miyamoto wanted Link to carry around a large sword and shield, but at the same time have players distinguish the on-screen sprite of Link from the sword and shield that he carries. Nintendo thought of using a long hat and big ears, which reminded them of fairy-like characters, so they went in the direction of an elf. As a big fan, Miyamoto first thought of  in regard to the design of a boy with pointed ears. Miyamoto thought it would be perfect to use Peter Pan's green, which they were able to use within the Famicom's color limitations.

Originally for the first The Legend of Zelda, the Triforce would have been made up of electronic chips instead of fragments. With the chips, Link would have traveled between the past and the future; his name directly states how he would have been a link between the time periods. Eiji Aonuma further explains that Link's name was for the player to connect with the character.

Original concept artwork showed Link holding a sword in his right hand, but in the game itself, Link holds it in his left hand. This change was done to aid in the creation of sprite art and the in-game layouts.

The Legend of Zelda
In the backstory for The Legend of Zelda, Ganon and his minions invade the Kingdom of Hyrule. Princess Zelda sends her nursemaid Impa to find someone with the courage to save Hyrule. During her travels, Impa gets cornered by Ganon's minions. Link suddenly appears and rescues her from Ganon's minions. Impa explains about Ganon's invasion of Hyrule. Link goes on an adventure to rescue Zelda and the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Link goes on an adventure to recover the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, which he must obtain to gain the strength to fight Ganon in Death Mountain. From the overworld, Link fights enemies and travels into the labyrinths. At the end of each labyrinth, Link must fight a boss, and by defeating it, he obtains one of the Triforce fragments.

After recovering every unit of the Triforce of Wisdom, Link goes to Death Mountain in a final showdown against Ganon. Link shoots a Silver Arrow at Ganon and defeats him. He recovers the Triforce of Power from Ganon's ashes and rescues Zelda. The game ends with Link and Zelda holding up each of the Triforces.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Link makes his second appearance in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The game takes place many seasons after Ganon was defeated in the first game. Prior to the events of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Ganon's minions waited for Ganon to return. Ganon could only be resurrected if Link was sacrificed and his blood was sprinkled over Ganon. Link stayed in Hyrule, helping to work toward its restoration.

One day, as Link was approaching his 16th birthday, he saw that the back of his left hand had a birthmark resembling the crest of Hyrule. He visited Impa, who was surprised to see his birthmark. Impa took Link to the North Castle and up to a locked, unopenable door. By pressing the back of Link's left hand on the door, Impa was able to open it. Inside the room, Princess Zelda lay inside the room under a permanent slumber; she is a different Zelda from the one in the first game.

Impa explained how Zelda fell into a permanent slumber, and she gave him six crystals and a scroll with the Hyrule crest, both of which are hereditary items in Impa's family. Link opened the scroll, which was written in an ancient script. Although Link never saw the letters before, he could read the scroll as if it was talking to him. Link learned about the legend of the Triforce and also the crest on his hand: the King of Hyrule could not find a person worthy of using the Triforce, so he hid the Triforce of Courage and cast a spell on Hyrule so that only a worthy person would gain the crest, based on their upbringing, experience, and becoming of a certain age. After Link reads the scroll, Impa tells him that the complete Triforce is needed to break the spell on Zelda. With his magical sword and magical shield equipped, Link goes on an adventure to reverse the spell put on Zelda.

In the game, Link starts out in the North Castle. The gameplay differs from the first game because the player most often controls Link in sidescrolling areas. The land map is the only area where Link is seen from a top-down perspective while towns, dungeons, and interior locations are side-scrolling. It is the only game where Link gains experience and extra lives. He can talk to town folk to gain hints and information during his adventure.

To awaken Princess Zelda, Link must return a crystal to each of the six palaces. A guardian is at the end of each one, and by defeating it, Link can return the crystal into the palace. After completing all six palaces, Link can enter the Great Palace. Unlike the six earlier palaces, the Great Palace has two guardians which Link battles separately: the Thunderbird and then his own shadow. Link defeats both bosses, recovers the Triforce of Courage and then returns to Zelda in the North Castle. With all three pieces of the Triforce united, Link successfully wishes for Princess Zelda to be awakened. His adventure ends with him presumably kissing Zelda behind the curtain.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Link is a descendant of the Knights of Hyrule who guard the royal family, and he lives with his uncle. He defeats Ganon with the Master Sword and wishes for the Triforce to return things as they were.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening


In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, after defeating Ganon in the previous game, Link goes on a journey to improve his skills to better withstand possible threats against Hyrule. After a few months of training, Link felt ready to return to Hyrule, so he got on a sailboat and took a voyage back to Hyrule.

Link travels across the Great Hyrulean Sea, he is caught in a big thunderstorm. Link's ship is hit by a squall and then a bolt of lighting, breaking it to pieces. Link drifts away unconsciously with the remains of his ship and eventually washes ashore on Koholint Island. A young woman named Marin finds Link and takes him to her house to recover.

At the start of the game, Link wakes up in Marin's house. Link recovers his shield from Tarin and goes to look for his missing sword. Link finds his sword on Toronbo Shores, the place where he had been washed ashore. Link is greeted by an owl who explains that he cannot leave Koholint Island unless he awakens the Wind Fish from its eternal sleep. To awaken the Wind Fish, Link must collect all eight Instruments of the Sirens, one in each dungeon.

When Link completes the fifth dungeon, Catfish's Maw, the owl instructs him to go to Southern Face Shrine before going to the sixth dungeon itself, Face Shrine. At the Southern Face Shrine, Link learns the truth about Koholint Island—the whole island is only an illusion part of the Wind Fish's dream. The Nightmares want control over Koholint Island, so they attempt to dissaude Link from waking up the Wind Fish, which would cause the whole island and its inhabitants to cease to exist.

Once Link obtains all eight Instruments of the Sirens, he returns to the Wind Fish's Egg on Mt. Tamaranch and plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish on his Ocarina. By doing so, the side of the egg cracks open, and Link enters inside to engage in a final boss battle against the Shadow Nightmares.

Link defeats the Shadow Nightmares and its main form, DethI. A long ladder appears in front of Link, and he climbs up to see the Wind Fish. The owl, who is the Wind Fish's guardian spirit, thanks Link for defeating the Shadow Nightmares and tells him to play the Ballad of the Wind Fish for the Wind Fish to wake up. As Link plays the song, the Wind Fish wakes up and all of Koholint Island vanishes. Link is pushed out by an upward stream of water, and he then wakes up in ocean, holding onto a piece of the shipwreck. The game ends with Link smiling as he looks at the Wind Fish flying overhead.

In the Nintendo Switch remake for the game, Link's appearance was updated to match the diorama-type art style for the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
In this game, Link is seen in both his child and adult iterations. He is born to a Hylian family during a time of war. During the war, his mother was driven from their home and, clutching her baby, fled into the Kokiri Forest. The Great Deku Tree proclaimed that Link was fated to save Hyrule, and Link was raised as a Kokiri in the Kokiri Forest. Link sets out on a journey with the fairy Navi and becomes the "Hero of Time" who carries the Triforce of Courage. After seven years of sleep, Link battles Ganon with the Master Sword in hand. Link defeats Ganon and returns to his original time. This is also the debut of Link's horse, Epona. Link starts out as a character with little to no extraordinary traits, as a regular Hylian who happens to end up awakening as the chosen hero.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
This Link is the same Link as in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After Link returns to his original time with the Triforce of Courage, he strays from Kokiri Forest into a parallel world called Termina while searching for Navi. He saves Termina, along with the help of the fairy Tatl. Some sources say that after his death, he becomes the Hero's Shade in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Link is a young boy who is guided to Hyrule Castle, where the Triforce transports him to the distant lands of Holodrum and Labrynna. He thwarts Twinrova's attempts at fully reviving Ganon. Afterwards, he sets sail for training.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Link is a boy who grew up on Outset Island. He lives with his grandmother and his younger sister, Aryll. Link boards a talking boat, the King of Red Lions. He obtains the Triforce of Courage, which had sunk to the bottom of the Great Sea, and battles Ganondorf, earning the title "Hero of Winds."

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Link is a young boy who, using the Four Sword, splits into four versions of himself to defeat the demon Vaati.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Link is a childhood friend of Princess Zelda, who uses the Four Sword to split into four and defeat Vaati and reseal Ganon.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Link is a childhood friend of Princess Zelda and an apprentice blacksmith. Link ends up wearing Ezlo, a Minish who was transformed into a cap, on his head. Wielding the Four Sword, he battles Vaati to save Princess Zelda. In the end, Ezlo gifts Link a green cap shaped like himself.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Link is a ranch hand from Ordon Village, who is fascinated by swordsmanship and horse riding. He inherits the Triforce of Courage. He ends up transforming into a wolf. With help from Midna, princess of the Twilight Realm, Link obtains the Master Sword and defeats Ganon. He returns to Ordon Village with the children of the village.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Link is the same Link from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Link gets caught up in the mystery of a Ghost Ship. Link goes on an adventure with the fairy Ciela, the Spirit of Time and Courage, which unfolds in the Temple of the Ocean King. In real time, Link's adventure only lasts ten minutes. Afterwards, Tetra's pirates discover a new continent. It is unclear whether Link settles there.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Link is an engineer in training. Riding on the Spirit Tracks, Link defeats the Demon King Malladus with the help of Princess Zelda's disembodied spirit. Link ends up becoming an engineer as planned, but also a swordsman to help protect Princess Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Link is a student of the Knight Academy. Link is a childhood friend of fellow student Zelda, who plays the part of the goddess Hylia for that year's Wing Ceremony. Link is chosen by the goddess Hylia. He tempers the Master Sword, guided by Fi, the spirit of the sword, and seals away Demise. It is implied that he settled on the surface world with Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Link is an apprentice blacksmith. Utilizing his ability to go inside of walls, Link recovers the Triforce from Lorule.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Link is one of three heroes who goes to Hytopia. Link becomes one of the legendary Tri Force Heroes, lifting Lady Maud's curse on Princess Styla.

Super Smash Bros.
Link is a playable character in every installment of the Super Smash Bros. series, starting with the Nintendo 64 title, Super Smash Bros. In the game, his design is very similar to his adult form in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. All of his moves originate from other The Legend of Zelda installments released prior to the game. Link is equipped with the Master Sword and Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Link's main attack is slashing his sword, which he can do if the player presses.

For his default costume, Link is wearing his usual green tunic. Each of his three alternate costumes only change the color of his tunic. His red and blue outfits are respectively based on the Goron Tunic and Zora Tunic, both appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Link's lavender outfit resembles one of his tunics from The Legend of Zelda if he has the Blue Ring equipped.

Link is always the first character who the player fights in 1P Game on his home stage, Hyrule Castle.

Link's up and down aerial moves are the Jump Thrust and Down Thrust respectively, both of which are from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. They are his only two moves that do not appear in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda
In Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda, Link is one of three main playable characters. Near the beginning of the game, Cadence has the choice to awaken Link or Zelda. If Link is awakened from Octavo's spell, he will become the next playable character; if Zelda is awakened, he can be found asleep in Kakariko Village later in the game. Like Cadence, Link, utilizes a shield, and can also use the Spin Attack. Regardless of the player's action, he appears during the final confrontation with Ganon.

Super Smash Bros.
Game bio: ''Link is the valiant boy hero of "The Legend of Zelda" series in which he fights against the evil Ganon to recover the Triforce. Though his tools may change with each adventure, his strength and righteousness remain constant. With his trusty sword and a variety of weapons, he takes his adventures head on!''

Works:
 * The Legend of Zelda (NES)
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Instruction Booklet bio: "Link is the young fighter who protects the peace in the realm of Hyrule. His skills with the sword are both varied and powerful."