Link/Other Appearances

This page details all appearances of outside the confirmed canon, main series games.

Zelda (Game & Watch)
Link's sweetheart - Princess Zelda - was kidnapped by the Eight Dragons in order to cause chaos in Hyrule, she is imprisoned in a magical cage that can only be opened with the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Link journeys through the dungeon, defeats the dragons and saves Zelda.

In, Link travels around the land of Hyrule shooting targets, enemies, and more in order to perfect his Crossbow skills. The game most likely takes place after the events of - where Link is presumably hunting down remaining monsters. In the game, Link has very little interaction with other characters.

Link joins Cadence and Zelda as a playable characters in. Link appears to take design elements from The Hero of Legend that appears in, , , and.

The Legend of Zelda TV Series
In, Link's appearance is similar to the official artwork of the original game: a green hat with a lighter green (sometimes yellow) stripe around the brow, and a green tunic with a brown belt, accompanied underneath it with a brown, long-sleeved shirt and brown pants. Interestingly, even though Link's hair and eyes are black in the first two aired episodes of the series, the third episode, "The White Knight", showed Link's hair and eyes as brown, which would remain until the last episode. Jonathan Potts serves as the voice actor for Link.

Living in North Castle with Princess Zelda and King Harkinian, Link is in charge of protecting the Triforce of Wisdom from falling into Ganon's hands. However, he dislikes his new lifestyle, claiming that it is boring and would rather be off fighting monsters and roaming the world. The only positive thing, he says, is that he gets to be in company of Princess Zelda, who usually dislikes Link's overall personality. Despite this, it is revealed in "The Missing Link" that she loves the young hero anyway but would rather keep it a secret to prevent it from going into Link's head. Link is persistent at any rate in trying to get Zelda to kiss him, and asks for a reward any time the young hero saves her. Any time that seems like Zelda is about to kiss him,  they are always interrupted by Spryte, Ganon's minions or even Link's own clumsiness ruining the moment, leaving the young hero frustrated. Link's motives for rescuing Zelda are not always a kiss, however, as he seems to genuinely care for her and would do anything to save her, which seems to be his weakness. Even so, he will take any chance to impress Princess Zelda or even to make her jealous.

For the most part, Link is depicted as a capable swordsman and a quick thinker, although he is often shown to be a rather arrogant warrior as well, something that displeases Zelda the most. Because of this, he sometimes underestimates the situation he is and ends up in more trouble than he predicts: in "The Moblins are Revolting", Link mocks Ganon for not being able to fight back since he is inside an indestructible bubble and decides to throw him around for a bit, which results in the bubble bursting and ruining Zelda's chances to retrieve the Triforce of Power. He is also characterized for his somewhat childish nature, trying to avoid any responsibilities that do not have to do with fighting Ganon: in "Cold Spells", he decides to fake being sick so that he will not have to do chores around the castle.

The cartoon series establishes that Link's entire inventory is actually shrunk inside his magic pouch around his belt: when Link is fighting a dragon, he pulls a miniaturized shield from the pouch, which then grows to normal size. Link always carries his sword, the Crissword, to fire Sword Beams at Ganon and his minions and thus send them back into the Evil Jar. The young hero only wields his Magical Shield in four episodes, which he just uses for a brief time during battles. He also often fights alongside Zelda, who proves to be invaluable and even saves the young hero several times throughout the show.

Link makes four episode appearances in Captain N: The Game Master. Unlike his depiction in The Legend of Zelda TV Series, he is now portrayed as an older, more mature Link who is no longer obsessed with trying to steal a kiss from Princess Zelda. His hair is longer, and his tunic is also slightly different to accommodate to his older look, but it still retains the same overall style. Jonathan Potts reprises his role as Link's voice actor in this television show.

Link lives with Princess Zelda in North Castle, still protecting the Triforce and the kingdom of Hyrule from evil even after Ganon's fall. He is Kevin's favorite video game hero, and although the two of them get along very well when Kevin first meets Link in "Quest for the Potion of Power", Link begins to become jealous of Kevin's fighting abilities as the heroes travel to the Parapa Palace since Kevin's skills are making Link look like a clumsy swordsman. When the hero of Hyrule is fighting Horsehead inside the palace, he shamefully loses his sword against the foe, and just as he's about to get hit by Horsehead, Kevin rushes in and saves Link from the deadly blow, leaving Kevin to finish off the monster. The young hero, feeling humiliated, then begins to act competitive against Kevin, refusing to receive instructions from him on how to defeat an Iron Knuckle. It isn't until Zelda gets taken by the Iron Knuckle that he and Kevin sort out their differences, learning to work together instead of against each other. From then on, Link becomes much more friendlier with Kevin, always willing to help Kevin whenever the need arises.

(Valiant Comics)
In the, Link's appearance is also heavily based on the artwork of the first Zelda game: the young hero has long, reddish hair with brown eyes and a large, round nose. He was born in Calatia, where he lived with his parents Arn and Medilia. Due to his thirst for adventure and talent for swordplay, Link departs from Calatia in search for excitement, where he eventually stumbles into Impa and helps Zelda save the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon's forces. After accomplishing a daring quest, the Triforce of Courage displayed itself in Link's heart. From then on, he begins to live in North Palace with the princess and King Harkinian, protecting both Zelda and the Triforce of Wisdom from Ganon's clutches. Despite not living in Calatia anymore, he is still loyal to his homeland and would do anything to protect its people and its queen, even if it means not being able to protect the Princess of Hyrule.

Link is a skillful swordsman who is considered to be a formidable opponent, even if his moves are said to be predictable by some. Although a great part of Link's strength comes from the Triforce of Courage, he is still capable of fighting and defeating other imposing foes, such as Shadow Link. Just like in The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Link can be seen trying to steal a kiss from Zelda any time the chance arises, but they always seem to get interrupted by Ganon's minions or Zelda changing her mind. Unlike the TV Series, however, the comic makes it clear that Link and Zelda love each other, as they both plainly state it to one another several times throughout their adventures. Furthermore, in "Assault", Zelda is even willing to give up the Triforce of Wisdom to Ganon in exchange for Link's life, while the young hero is always ready to do anything to protect the princess from danger, despite Zelda insisting in accompanying him in his many adventures in the Underworld.

Despite being the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, Link at one point in the comics gets corrupted by the Triforce of Power after he manages to take it from Ganon's lair. The young hero, blindly wanting more power, demands that Zelda turn over the Triforce of Wisdom to him, even going as far as firing a magic spell at the princess. Because Link has misused the power of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage leaves his heart and goes to Zelda to protect her from Link's malevolence. It is not until the princess shows him how his lust of power has corrupted him that Link realizes he is becoming like Ganon and what the price of that power is. By choosing to throw away the Triforce of Power in order to keep his soul, Link once again proves to be worthy of being the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, which restores his life after nearly dying in Zelda's arms.

Nintendo Adventure Books
In the Nintendo Adventure Books series, Link is portrayed as an outgoing, brave, playful, and even sometimes arrogant young warrior. Despite his young age, he is still recognized as being the best swordsman in all of Hyrule and even has the Triforce of Couarge buried deep in his heart. Link is also best friends with Zelda, and he seems to enjoy annoying her whenever the chance arises, although the princess also does not miss the opportunity to poke fun at the young hero. Whenever in need of advice, Link seeks Impa, the castle's nursemaid, who often reminds him to not act rashly and to think things through, somewhat serving as his mentor and even giving him items which might help the young hero along his adventure.

In the first book of the series,, Link and Princess Zelda are running inside the Midoro Palace trying to escape from Ganon's grap. However, the evil wizard finds them and eventually encases Link in a Crystal. Ganon explains that since he cannot obtain the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom from Link and Zelda respectively, he used a Magic Scroll which cast a spell to encase both pieces of the Triforce, including the Triforce of Courage encased in Link's heart. Zelda is now forced to seek the three items dictated in the Fairy's Scroll that will help free Link from the Crystal, but she has just 24 hours before the young hero gets trapped inside the crystal forever.

Eventually, Princess Zelda finds the Magic Honey, the Handprint, and the Magnifying Glass and uses them to shatter the Crystal. With Link now free, the young duo head off to find the Spear, which is the only weapon that can defeat Ganon. Link, with the help of Zelda's friend Greenbeard, obtains the Spear and uses it to defeat Ganon once and for all.

In, Link and Zelda meet a strange knight known as Sir Charles from the kingdom of Moria. Although the princess and the King of Hyrule are all quick to trust Charles, Link gets suspicious of his actions from the moment he meets the knight from Moria. After the King of Hyrule decides to show the Triforce of Wisdom to Charles and dubs him a Knight of the Triforce, Link, outraged at the king's decision, goes to Impa for advice and suggests that the young hero go to the Water Town of Saria and retrieve the Mirror of Truth, which will show Charles's true identity.

After Link finds the Mirror of Truth in the Wiseapple Farm of Saria Town, he returns to North Castle only to find that the King has chosen Charles, and not Link, to deliver the Triforce of Wisdom to the Fifth Castle of Ancient Hyrule to keep it away from Ganon's grasp. The young hero furiously reminds the king of all the brave deeds he has done and claims that Charles can't be trusted because he is evil. With the Mirror of Truth in his power, Link holds it up to Charles only to reveal that Charles is actually Ganon in disguise. The false knight quickly takes the Triforce of Wisdom and rushes off to the woods, where Link follows him and promptly defeats Charles by striking Charles's Necklace, which was the true source of Ganon's power. Link safely returns to the castle with the Triforce of Wisdom, and the king decides to celebrate in honor of Link having saved the kingdom once again.

(Ishinomori)
In the, Link starts out as a simple, bumbling kid who gradually grows more confident about his abilities and succeeds in rescuing Princess Zelda with the help of the friends he makes along his adventure. Like in the game, Link is a descendant of the Knights of Hyrule; because Link's parents stumbled into the Dark World, he was adopted by his uncle, who shielded him from the intrigues of the Royal Family. In the comic, Link and Zelda have a close bond with one another, as they share a dream together where Zelda comforts the young hero and heals his wounds while searching for the Pendants of Virtue.

At the beginning of the comic, Link is awoken as he is contacted telepathically by Princess Zelda, who asks him to save her from Hyrule Castle's prison. Sneaking into the castle, Link witnesses his uncle's defeat against Agahnim and as such passes on his Sword and Shield to the young hero. Before passing out, Link's Uncle explains that after the young hero rescues Zelda and the people in the Dark World, he might be able to meet his parents. Although Link is successful in rescuing the princess, Agahnim finds her once they reach the Sanctuary. As he kidnaps her, Zelda explains to Link that the Master Sword is the only weapon that can defeat the evil wizard. Knowing this, Link begins his search for the two remaining Pendants of Virtue to wield the Master Sword after Sahasrahla grants him the Pendant of Courage. Link eventually finds the rest of the Pendants with Sahasrahla's guidance and travels to the Lost Woods, where the Master Sword selects him as its bearer. Although the young hero makes it to Hyrule Castle before Agahnim casts his final incantation on the princess, he is unable to defeat the wizard and Zelda is transported to the Dark World. With the help of Sahasrahla, Link kills Agahnim by deflecting his own magic, but Agahnim, with his final breath, manages to transport Link into the Dark World.

Instead of turning into a rabbit when he stumbles into the Dark World like in the game, Link momentarily turns into a beast before suppressing his negative emotions and managing to stay in his human form. He then resumes his search for the princess, and befriends Epheremelda the Fairy after rescuing her from monsters. Helping Link out as a guide, Link and his fairy companion successfully free two Maidens from their crystals, with one of them revealing to Link that Zelda is imprisoned inside ALttP (Ishinomori):. Link, with the help of Roam, shows up and aids the young hero in defeating the monster in Turtle Rock. With Zelda now saved, the trio head to ALttP (Ishinomori):, where Ganon rises from the defeated body of an Agahnim specter. Link stuns the beast with the Master Sword, allowing Zelda to fire a Silver Arrow from Roam's crossbow and defeat Ganon. The Triforce rises from Ganon's body and asks Link to touch it with one wish in his heart as its new master. The Triforce transports them back to the now-peaceful Hyrule, where Link sees a vision of his father, mother and uncle, who congratulate him on his difficult victory. The newly-crowned Queen Zelda appoints Link as the Master of the Knights of Hyrule, and the two of them, now being kept apart by their duties, share one last moment in the Lost Woods before Zelda gallops away on her horse.

During, Hyrule experiences an age of peace, which consequently has left Link bored with no adventures to go on. Shortly after he complains about the fact, Gwonam arrives and informs him that Ganon has seized Koridai and that, according to a prophecy, he is the only one who can defeat him. Link asks Zelda for a kiss of luck before leaving, but is rejected. The young hero leaves with Gwonam to Koridai on his magic carpet. Once there, Link ventures on his quest to defeat the masters of the "Faces of Evil"; mountain peaks that bare resemblance to Ganon's minions who now control certain areas of Koridai. During his quest, Link and Gwonam learn that Zelda was kidnapped by Ganon and put under a sleeping spell during Link's absence. At the end of his quest, Link fulfills his destiny by defeating Ganon at his lair and trapping him in the Book of Koridai, an item Link found during his quest and the only thing that could defeat Ganon. Link wakes Zelda from her spell by ringing a gong, and exclaims that he just saved her, though she teasingly denies this. They are taken back to Hyrule by Gwonam, who proclaims Link as the Hero of Koridai. Link once again asks Zelda for a kiss, but is again rejected.

Link plays a much smaller role in. The Royal Family is informed that the island of Gamelon has been seized by Ganon, and its ruler Duke Onkled has sent a request for urgent assistance. King Harkinian leaves to aid him, and Link is ordered to go to Gamelon if the King does not return in a month. He does so when the King winds up missing, but also disappears with no word back, forcing Zelda and Impa to leave for Gamelon. During their quest, they eventually learn through the Triforce of Wisdom that Link was involved in a terrible fight. However, his fate is ultimately left unknown. Zelda later learns from Lady Alma that she had met with Link, who had exchanged his Canteen for a kiss. After defeating Ganon and rescuing her father, Zelda wonders what had happened to Link. Lady Alma disregards his disappearance and Zelda smashes her mirror, causing Link to inexplicably reappear, implying that he was trapped inside. He has no recollection of what had happened to him.

In, Link was captured by Ganon in the land of Tolemac. He had been traveling with a guide from the swamp of Vendoss, but they were soon found and outnumbered by Ganon's spies, resulting in Link's capture and his guide injured. The wizard Gaspra summons Zelda to defeat Ganon and rescue Link. Zelda eventually reaches and defeats Ganon after finding all seven of the stolen Celestial Signs, rescuing Link and bringing peace back to Hyrule and Tolemac. Link is only seen during the game's ending, holding hands with Zelda at the Vision Henge.


 * See article on  for more information.

Link has been one of the playable characters that have appeared in all five games, first appearing as one of the eight playable characters available in. Here, he is depicted in his adult form from, wearing his traditional Kokiri tunic. He also has some of his usual arsenal from at his disposal, including Bombs, his Boomerang, and a Hookshot. His appearance marks the default look for Link in the rest of the fighting series, with him bearing the Master Sword and Hylian Shield as his default weapons and sporting the green tunic as the standard color of tunic. His home stage is Hyrule Castle.

Link returns as one of the 14 playable characters available from the start in, the 2001 sequel to In , he has his Bow in addition to the equipment he brought with him to the original  Also playable in the game as a secret unlockable character is Young Link, the youthful Link from most of the games in the series. Modeled after the and version of the hero, Young Link is more agile but weaker than the older Link. He has some of the same weaponry and moves as his adult counterpart, although they are usually accompanied with a few changes, like his Hookshot and Boomerang having a shorter reach. Adult Link's stage is the Temple, while Young Link's is Great Bay.

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On May 10, 2006, at an after-hours press conference during the E³, Link became one of the first confirmed fighters in the Wii installment of the franchise,. Unlike the previous games of the series, Link appears as depicted in the GameCube, rather than. The Master Sword he has in is much shorter than the one in. Link's Final Smash move is known as the Triforce Slash. It slashes an enemy mercilessly with the power of the Triforce. In this game, "Young Link" does not return to the brawl, but rather, Toon Link takes on his role. This Link first appeared in and has appeared in this form in several games since. Although he is different in many ways, the two Links are surprisingly similar and also have the same Final Smash. The Bridge of Eldin serves as the stage of the adult Link.

In the Subspace Emissary story mode from, Link appears in a forest where he finds the Master Sword and teams up with upon being attacked by the Subspace Army. Depending on which princess was saved, Link will either confront a mind-controlled Peach or confront Mario and Pit after seeing Zelda supposedly defeated by the plumber. They later team up and track down King Dedede to try and rescue the trophies stolen by him. Eventually, upon reaching Subspace, Link and Zelda are both present when meeting but are both defeated by Tabuu's. If Link and Zelda were rescued during Kirby and King Dedede's exploration of Subspace, a cutscene will show them both agreeing to revive Ganondorf, at which point they show him where their common target is. Link helps the other heroes throughout the rest of the story as they try to reach Tabuu inside the Great Maze to defeat him.

In all three games, Link can choose different color tunics. In the original, only the Green, Red, Blue, and Blue Ring tunic from the original are available; however, in , the Black Tunic was added, and the Golden Tunic debuted in.

Link retains the same moves for most of the series, which are usually iconic weapons he has used throughout. The Hookshot serves as Link's grab move and also as a tether recovery in both and, though not in , where it has been replaced by the Clawshot. While the boomerang from appears in the series' first two games, the Gale Boomerang appears instead in, replacing Link's standard Boomerang from. The Bow is the young hero's neutral special move, and the more the bow is charged, the farther the arrow will travel. Lastly, the Spin Attack makes a return as one of Link's most powerful moves and as his move when used in the air.

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Link appears once again in. He retains the same move-set he had in with the exception of his new dash attack, where Link will perform a Jump Attack. Like most characters in the game, Link has nine alternative custom moves.

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SSBU: reappears as a playable SSBU: in. His design and moves are now based on those in.

SSBU: appears as a SSBU: that can be obtained by either clearing "SSBU:", SSBU:'s SSBU: Route, or by purchasing it from the Shop for G 300. SSBU: also appears as the Link (The Legend of Zelda) SSBU:, the Wall-Merged Link SSBU:, the Link (A Link Between Worlds) SSBU:, as part of the Alfonzo & Engineer Link SSBU:, and as part of the Totem Link SSBU:.

The Link (The Legend of Zelda), Wall-Merged Link, Alfonzo & Engineer Link, and Totem Link NaN Spirits can be obtained through NaN Spirit Battles. The Link (A Link Between Worlds) SSBU: can be obtained by leveling the Wall-Merged Link SSBU: to Level 99 and enhancing it.


 * See also: Soulcalibur II/Command List

Link is a playable guest character in the GameCube version of. His appearance is taken from his adult incarnation from. Though he is voiced by Hiyama, he does not have a deep voice (as Adult Link does in ), he now has a timbre relative to that of a tenor (similar to that of Zora Link, without modification). His voice is the same exact tone as Nightmare in the Japanese voicing of the game, as well as the seiyū voice of Siegfried Schtauffen in the entire Soul Edge and Soulcalibur series. Expectedly, Link's voice remains unchanged regardless of what language voice setting it is set to. Shigeru Miyamoto did not see a problem with Link appearing in what some had thought to be a "violent fighting game" since he had already been established as a fighter in the games.

Not much is revealed about this incarnation of Link, but it is known that after saving Hyrule from an evil wizard who was being controlled by a fragment of Soul Edge, he went on a secret quest to destroy the evil sword. Quickly pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal, he set out to travel to this world to destroy Soul Edge with his trusty and Hylian Shield. Eventually, he successfully seals away the evil within the Soul Edge, saving his homeland and quietly leaving the world he had come upon, leaving only a faint echo of his Ocarina.

In, Link is one of the few characters with a ranged attack, alongside other guest characters and  (the latter of which is exclusive to the XBox version). He is the only guest character to have his own theme and more than three costumes—the same colors that were his Super Smash Bros. costumes. His weapons are a number of weapons from games, ranging from the Razor Sword to the Magical Sword and even the Bug Catching Net. In addition, Link's fighting style retains many of his signature moves from past games in The Legend of Zelda and series. Some of these moves include the Spin Attack, the Jump Attack, the Down Thrust, the Jump Thrust, and the Dash Attack.

[[SS -]] (Himekawa)

 * See Hylia's Chosen Hero

Other than the Link in SS undefined, this Link is the earliest chronologically.

This Link is the chosen hero of Hylia and aids her in her battle with Demise by reforging the Master Sword, eventually dying from wounds he sustained in battle. He is reincarnated as the Link of SS - hundreds of years later.

Prior to the events of, a hero in green had appeared and sealed away an evil entity in order to restore the Triforce's balance, which had been disrupted by the evil. The hero split the evil soul into four parts and banished each one to a different area.

During the events of, Link is a young, but powerful, knight in training. Due to his previous incarnation's close connections with the princesses of Hyrule, Cia falls under the influence of the sealed evil and becomes corrupt out of her envy. After Cia's forces attacks Hyrule Castle, Link sets out on a journey to save Hyrule and its princess from the forces of darkness.

Link has the most styles out of any character with five. His default is a Sword and Shield. The Fire Rod has longer range and great crowd control, but trades it in for lower defensive capabilities. His third weapon, the Gauntlet, grants him super strength in order to wield huge, heavy objects such as the Ball and Chain or even the giant pillars from. They also allow him to dig into the earth and fire electrical bursts along the ground. His fourth and final weapon is the Great Fairy, where is not Link who fights, but instead the Great Fairy who carries the young hero around in a Bottle. It is a very powerful style, having huge area of effect attacks and easy to exploit. The Master Sword is considered its own style and has a powered up version of the Spin Slash. The Master Quest DLC pack also gives Link a new type of weapon, his horse Epona.

Once he gets the Hero's Tunic, he also gets pauldrons, a chain mail under the tunic, and a blue scarf with the Royal Crest. His, SS undefined, and incarnations come with the Courage Set. A Dark Link costume also becomes available by purchasing the Hero of Hyrule Pack. By purchasing the Master Quest Pack, Link's purple tunic becomes available as one of the unlockable costumes in the Master Quest Adventure Mode Map.

Link's incarnation is also available as a separate downloadable character, by purchasing the Majora's Mask pack. He attacks using a bigger version of the Kokiri Sword, and can wear the Fierce Deity's Mask to perform certain attacks.

Link in his SS undefined incarnation appears as a character in as part of the  ×  DLC. He comes with the Master Cycle which includes the Triforce Tires and Hylian Kite.

In the enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch,, Link is included with the base game alongside Hyrule Circuit and the Master Cycle bike. In addition to this, his incarnation from appears in update 1.6.0 of the game. Along with Link himself, the update adds the Master Cycle Zero, Ancient Tires, and Paraglider parts. This incarnation of Link uses the Guardian Sword++ as part of his tricks.

Cameo appearances
Link has appeared in cameos in Mario games for a long time as well as one of the F-Zero games. He also was mentioned in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3. Link from the cartoon series' most used line also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. A costume based on Link's appearance in SS - is available in the  game, Dynasty Warriors VS for the 3DS. The costume also includes the True Master Sword and Hylian Shield, but they are not used in battle.