The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Himekawa)

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (ゼルダの伝説 4つの剣+ Zeruda no Densetsu Yottsu no Tsurugi Purasu) is a manga by Akira Himekawa loosely based on the story of. It spans 2 volumes and 12 chapters. The second volume includes a bonus story.

A Legendary Edition containing both volumes of the manga was released in North America on July 11, 2017. It features new cover art and color pages.

The Four Links
The chapter begins with a raid from a gang led by a man named Jago who is apprehended by Link. Link is scolded by his father over acting alone. Link dismisses him and walks off. Link's father goes to the childhood friend of Link, Princess Zelda, and asks her to talk to Link about teamwork. After he leaves, Link comes out from behind Zelda's throne (where he had been hiding the entire time) and he and Zelda talk of old times. Then the six maidens enter and tell Zelda that they are ready to check the seal on the Four Sword. In the Four Swords' chamber Link learns how the evil sorcerer Vaati was defeated by a hero who drew the Four Sword and split into four. Then, the maidens suddenly disappear in pillars of light and Shadow Link appears. Link attempts to fight him but his attacks simply go right through him. Shadow Link kidnaps Zelda and leaves Link unconscious. When Link awakens, he draws the Four Sword so he will be able to save Zelda. He splits into multiple Links. Each Link wears a differently-colored tunic. (Green, blue, red and purple.) After a very brief discussion between the Links, a large stone creature appears and reveals itself to be Vaati. They attempt to cut different places on his body so he cannot regenerate but fail, as they are unable to work together due to their cocky attitudes. They are almost sucked up by Vaati, but remembering how Zelda needs their help, they work together and defeat him -for the time being. Shadow Link, who was watching the battle, thanks the Links for freeing Vaati, and states that the fact that there are now four of them will only make them easier to defeat.

The Fall of Hyrule Castle
Meanwhile, as the Links return to Hyrule, Shadow Link and his minions are taking over the town. Link's father fights his way to the throne room to make sure Princess Zelda is all right, but instead of Zelda, he finds what appears to be a dying Link. After Link's father begs the gods to take his own life, but spare Link's, the seemingly mortally wounded Link is revealed to be Shadow Link playing out an elaborate ruse. He attacks and apparently destroys Link's father. While the Links are making their way to Hyrule, Red comes up with the idea of calling each Link by the color of their tunic, with the exception of Violet Link, who is simply called Vio. (But the short-tempered Blue thinks he should be called Link.) On the way they encounter Arcy, the castle cook, and a young girl from Hyrule, who mistake the Links for demons. Arcy tells Link that she had thought he was nice, until she saw him attacking Hyrule Castle. Green asks her if the Link she had seen was a shadowy Link. When the Links arrive in the ruined castle, they are met by a large group of possessed knights. Green convinces the others (except for Blue) not to fight them, and Shadow Link appears and calls the knights off. He speaks of Vaati's plan, to replace the world of light with the Dark World, and sacrifice Zelda. The Links attempt to fight him but he shakes them off and almost kills them. However, the Blue Maiden uses her power to send a fairy to scare Shadow Link away and teleports the heroes to her. She tells them they are not powerful enough to defeat the darkness, because Vaati weakened the power of the Four Sword. She states that they must regain Force to power their swords by fighting. Then the Blue Maiden tells them to go east to find the next maiden.

Erune and Rosie
While the Links train to gain Force, a circular stone with a single eye spies on them. Then it rolls into a crack in the ground where Shadow Link is waiting. After Shadow Link learns of the Links' plan to restore the Four Sword, he tells the stone to continue watching them. In the Village of the Blue Maiden, the people in a long line are fighting. A girl named Erune attempts to calm them down, but is shoved and falls backward. She is almost hurt further, but the Links help her by forming a shield wall in front of her and pushing the combatants back into line. Later, in her house, she tells the Links (who are all smitten with her) how, ten days before, a tornado hit and eighteen children disappeared. However, when she was outside in the square, she saw the shadow of one of her missing friends. She asks the Links to find the lost children, and they agree. During the conversation, the rock sneaks into Erune's house. Later that night, Blue finds the rock under his pillow, but, believing it to be a normal rock, throws it out of the window. Meanwhile, Green finds Erune talking to her doll, Rosie, who she will be giving away soon. He tells her to keep her if she is her most prized possession. Suddenly, Blue grabs Green jealously because he was talking to Erune alone. While they argue, Rosie comes to life and begins talking to Erune. She takes her to the Dark World. Green comes back, and finding her gone, alerts the other Links. Then he follows her footprints and sees what seems to be her shadow, which is crying. The rock with the eye speaks to him and causes him to run away. The rock follows him and eventually he looks into its eye. He awakens with the other Links in a part of the Dark World which looks like the village, but in a bad dream. Vio states that it is like the real world, yet different. They find some of the children turned into toys, including Erune, who was turned into a doll. Suddenly, the rock (now at a gigantic size) and many smaller eyes attack them. They grab toys to use as weapons against him. Green chooses a boomerang, Red, a slingshot, Vio, a bow, and Blue, after much debate, a hammer. They destroy the smaller ones, which drop Force. Arrghus cries for them, causing Red to cry too. However, Arrghus's tears dry as hard as cement and trap Red. Vio shoots several arrows into its eye and Blue smashes it with his hammer, freeing Red in the process. by defeating Arrghus, they free the yellow maiden, who gives Green the Moon Pearl. She explains that when it is touched by moonlight, it opens a gate to the Dark World. When Green tries to say goodbye to Erune, the other Links become jealous, and they get into a fight.

Links Torn Apart
The Links use a canoe to travel toward Death Mountain. But halfway through the trip, Vio notes the mountain seems to be getting further away and when Red blissfully reveals they are going the wrong way, Blue flies off the handle. Blue ends up smashing Red over the head with his oar, and Blue and Green get into an argument. They reach a fork in the river, but are unable to agree on which way to go, so they end up going down a waterfall. Green somehow appears in a desert town and is given a massage by a beautiful young woman, and Green eventually ends up falling asleep. Meanwhile, Blue awakens on a snowy mountain, believing that the cold water snapped the four Links into one again, and that he is the original Link. He sees an old lady in the snow trapped in the snow, and frees her. The old woman tells him the weather change is due to Vaati and shows him the cave that Vaati is in. Blue rushes in and is frozen by the mysterious old woman. She tells him that Vaati is not there and the Wind Mage is not his only enemy. Red wakes in a forest near a burning village and a boy who the townsfolk blame for starting the fire seeks help from Red. Red ends up unknowingly providing a distraction for the boy to escape while he tries to argue for the boy's innocence. Then he notices that his sword and shield are gone. The town blames Red and chases after him. When Red hides, he finds the boy again, who tells him he did not have a sword or shield in the first place. He gives Red a Fire Rod, which Red accidentally activates. When the people of the town see this, they accuse him of starting the fire and begin chasing him again. Vio lands in a forest full of monsters, and a few Deku Scrubs tell him of their master named Ganon, which Vio recognizes as a name that the Gerudo Tribe use. Then he goes off to find the others. Suddenly, Shadow Link jumps from a tree and begins to tell Vio how futile the Links' attempts are. By appealing to Vio's intelligence, he convinces Vio to join the darkness. While this is happening, Green awakens and sees Zelda's pendant. He runs into the desert and the desert people are revealed to be the Gerudo. Green enters a pyramid and the Force in his Four Sword drains after slashing a Gibdo. He finds someone in armor who is transparent and can attack Green. but Green cannot fight back.

Deadly Battle at the Pyramid
Green attempts to flee the shadowy knight but it follows him.As Green flees, he finds a window where moonlight is shining in. Green pulls out the Moon Pearl and enters the Dark World where the shadowy knight is solid, so Green can fight him. Green cracks his helmet open revealing Valenzuela, one of the Hyrule Knights. Valenzuela tells Green that someone more powerful than Vaati or Shadow Link trapped him in the Dark World and gives him a Gem Key which can allow him and the others to enter the Tower of Winds where Vaati made his palace. Green leaves the Dark World and the pyramid. When Green leaves, the fairy takes Red to the pyramid and they follow tracks to the cave Blue is in. The creature that froze Blue attempts the same on Red but he uses his Fire Rod to defeat it.The fairy suggest that Red unfreeze Blue. After Red is scolded and hit with Blue's hammer, they leave in search of Green. They come to a temple once known as the Temple of Light and find Vio.

Temple of Darkness
At Vaati's palace, Shadow Link tells him of his plan to bring the other Links to their side or kill them and it is revealed that they have Red's Four Sword. Vaati sends a creature called the Big Poe to destroy them. On a building on a tower where Zelda is hidden, Shadow Link tells her how the wind wall won't allow her to escape. Shadow Link taunts her which she quickly turns back on him, calling him a faint and twisted echo, which makes Shadow Link very mad and causes him to walk off the tower. Back at the Temple of Darkness, Vio tells Red and Blue that Green is inside the temple. Vio shows them a coffin with Green's Four Sword on and they find that it's empty. Vio claims he was burned to ashes. Blue angrily smashed the Four Sword and finds it is a fake made of stone and then Vio disapppears. Suddenly a Moldorm springs from the ground and attacks them. Blue is able to defeat it but Red has all but lost hope. They enter a dark corridor and the Big Poe (loudly) makes itself known. They run in fear and the fairy appears. The heroes find a lantern and the Big Poe appears and almost consumes Blue's soul but he uses the lantern to scare it off. They try to use the lantern to light all the torches but the Big Poe blows them out and accidentally eats Blue whole and tries to crush him. Red uses the Fire Rod to light the torches. Blue escapes and kills the Big Poe in the process. All of the heroes raise their swords and the Four Swords all glow while Vaati mulls over how the Four Swords are coming together like an attempt to kill him.

Climb Death Mountain!
While climbing Death Mountain, Green finds and rescues a man under a boulder who presents himself as Tingle who is collecting Force Gems in an attempt to become a fairy. Green tries to rebuff Tingle's attempts to follow him and "help" him. They are attacked by a cyclops sent by Vaati and Tingle leaves with some of Green's purple Force Gems. Luckily Red and Blue come through a portal made by the fairy and defeat the cyclops but a large group of cyclops appear. The heroes run but find a dead end in a lava river. They turn to fight but find them bowing to something. They turn and find Vio sitting on a throne. Vio tells them how he is working with the others and Shadow Link appears to confirm that it is the real Vio. Green challenges Vio to a duel and they begin to fight on a small piece of land in the lava river. The two fight with Red crying, Blue yelling, and Shadow Link rolling on the floor laughing. At first they are evenly matched but Green seams to get the upper hand but Vio ends victorious and apparently kills Green. Shadow Link (who considers him and Vio best buddies) and Vio go to celebrate. The fairy reveals Green is merely unconscious and he states the Vio is most likely trying to do something to the enemy.

Sad Shadow Link
The fairy (in order to not blow Vio's cover) goes ahead to spy while Shadow Link tells Vio of his plan to usurp Vaati but he knows he is unable to do anything about Ganon who is revealed to be the one who got Shadow Link to their world. Shadow Link shows Vio the Dark Mirror, which gives Shadow Link, Ganon, and Vaati dark power and reveals that Zelda's power could make it do the opposite which. Vio suggests to use this to their advantage to kill Ganon. Shadow Link says that is a good idea and tells Vio that he is the one person he trusts which saddens Vio a little. Later that night they and a horde of monsters go to burn Hyrule. The next day Vio tries to destroy the dark mirror but Tingle appears and awakens a cyclops who Vio kills. Shadow Link and many monsters appear, startled by the noise. Shadow Link asks Vio what happened and he said that the cyclops attacked him and Tingle tried to break the mirror. Shadow Link uses the mirror to see that Green is alive and Vio tried to destroy the mirror which causes him to fly into a rage and instructs the monsters grab Vio. The fairy tells the remaining Links of this and they rush to save him. Vio was chained to a stone pillar on an boulder in the lava with his and Red's Four Swords. Shadow Links scolds him for his double-cross while a cyclops hits the boulder and it slowly sinks into the lava. Red uses his Fire Rod, changed by the fairy to an Ice Rod to freeze the lava. They defeat the cyclops and talk to Shadow Link who, still angry, attempts to kill them. They use the power of the Four Swords to destroy him. Later while hugging him Red accidentally steps on the foot Green stomped on to gain an advantage in their fight. While laughing about this Vio can't help but thinking about Shadow Link.

On to the Tower of Winds
While walking, the Links talk about how they need each other. The fairy takes them to the Four Sword Sanctuary. Once they are there, the maidens freed by the Four Swords' power take them to the Tower of Winds. Meanwhile Links' father awakens in the Tower of Winds and finds 'Zelda' who he soon realizes is a fake, but she places a helmet on his head which takes over his mind before he can react. The Links make there but realize they do not have all the Gem Keys. As they head to turn back, Link's father appears and tries to fight Green apparently believing he is Shadow Link.

A Fight Against Father
The Links, although reluctant to fight, try to at least disarm Link's Father.He uses dark power to stop them. During the fight, 'Zelda' enters and tells them that they must kill him to defeat him. Green attempts to destroy him with a force blast but Blue stops him to do it himself. They find that it was their real dad who gets up and almost seems to attempt to kill Blue but he throws a dagger at Zelda who is revealed to be Vaati in disguise. He tries to attack him but the Hyrule Knights intervene and Vaati leaves. The knights give them the Gem Keys. The Links go up the tower and find Vaati and they begin to fight.

The Immortal Demon Vaati
They fight but Red is nearly devoured and Green saves him with his boomerang. Blue catches him which causes Red to blush and freak out Blue. Soon, Vaati has them all and is about to eat them when the Hyrule Knights intervene. The Links follow Vaati into a dark cloud. They find themselves surrounded by spikes growing out of the ground which raise up to kill them. Blue smashes them flat with his hammer and they make a trail. After a bit they hear Vaati's voice and see the trail, now a hand shape which turns into Vaati's hand and they fall to lower parts of the pillars. Meanwhile, Zelda is in the room with the Dark Mirror and Shadow Link crawls out very weakened. Zelda reminds him that he is one of the Links and is still a hero. Suddenly a dark cloud takes Zelda and says it is on Ganon's orders and leaves Shadow Link barley able to leave the tower. He transforms himself into a perfect copy of Vio. Red awakens on the ground and finds the fake Vio badly hurt from the fall. They reunite with the others and Vio shows surprising knowledge of the palace. They go on and find Vaati. Vio somehow knows Vaati's weakness, and Green stabs him on the tip of the head. The real Vio runs in and Shadow Link (disguised as Vio) flees to the Dark Mirror. While the Links fight, Shadow Link breaks the mirror with Zelda's throne.

The Four Sword Forever!
During their fight, when it seems most likely they will die, Vaati begins to shrink but he sees the shattered mirror and tells Shadow Link that completely destroying it is suicide but Shadow Link does it anyway. The Links find him and after a talk Shadow Link finally passes and dissolves into the light. Suddenly Ganon comes and fights the Links with him having the advantage. The powered Four Swords open the dark cloud and Zelda floats out. They use their combined power to seal Ganon within the Four Sword. The four Links and Zelda go to the Four Sword Sanctuary and place their swords back and become one again. Link and Zelda walk off hand and hand and Link's shadow congratulates them on their victory.

Part One
One day, the Links decide go to an amusement park. But due to the ticket cost, Green goes in and presses L, making the others follow; this causes Blue to call Green "Cheap."

It's a Small Compulsion
When the Links settle down for the night, Green notices fold lines in Blues' hat. It is revealed that Blue can not sleep without knowing that his belongings are neatly folded.

Takoyaki
A takoyaki (pieces of octopus, battered and fried) in the shape of Vaati begs Red not to eat him; Red does so anyway.

It's Not Easy Being Purple
Vio is seen to viciously win a game where you hit the heads of the other Links

About That Time
Shadow Link watches the others at the amusement park through the Dark Mirror. Since is he is afraid of the light, he goes during night but soon discovers that it's closed.

Shadow Link's Blog
Shadow Link has his own website, but since he can't go outside, he makes up a story about going to an amusement park with his girlfriend.

Shopping Online
Shadow Link is seen shopping online until he sees Vaati for sale. Once he sees him, he immediately slams shut his laptop.

Actually, He Was There
It is revealed that Tingle was at the final fight with Vaati, but no one noticed because he got crushed under a giant Force Gem.

Sukiyaki Day
The Links are seen playing a food game, but Red is so hungry that he forgets the rules.

Fear Like Never Before
When Green puts the Four Sword back in its pedestal, Red, Blue, and Vio don't disappear. Panicking, Green pulls the Four Sword out and puts it back in and the other Links disappear.