Dark Link

Dark Link fighting Link in the Great Palace.
Dark Link
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Red
Debut	The Adventure of Link

Dark Link (sometimes known as Shadow Link) is the evil counterpart of Link. He often shows up as a single entity or in multiple forms. When fighting alone, Dark Link is a powerful foe that knows all of Link's techniques (and sometimes more).

Background

Dark Link first appeared in The Adventure of Link as the final boss. After Link defeated the Thunderbird, Link approached a strange tiny old man (pictured right) when suddenly a shadow version of himself appeared. Dark Link fought just like Link, forcing Link to break through his enemy's defenses and finally defeat him so he could claim the Triforce of Courage.

Again Dark Link would challenge Link in the Water Temple during Ocarina of Time. In one of the rooms in the dungeon, the scenery became that of a endless pool of water with a single tree in the middle. Dark Link then emerged as the dungeon's mini-boss and attacked Link. Again he had all of Link's techniques and more, making it difficult to defeat him. He was particularly vulnerable against the Megaton Hammer and could do nothing to evade the power of Din's Fire.

Dark Link would appear later, only in multiple forms (sometimes called Shadow Links) rather than just one. During Oracle of Ages, Veran summoned several Shadow Links, but these versions were weak and easily defeated. In Four Swords Adventures, Ganon unleashed a multitude of Shadow Links using the Dark Mirror. These duplicates appeared several times as hindrances to Link's efforts, but were easily defeated. They were at last stopped from being created when Zelda closed the Dark Mirror.

In the Gameboy Advance version of A Link to the Past, there are four Link doppelgangers in the Four Swords Palace. They may not be Shadow Links due to their colored outfits (although the official Nintendo player's guide refers to them as Dark Links), but they fight Link one at a time and each have many of Link's techniques and more. They can only be fought by reuniting the four shards of the Four Sword.

Trivia

• In Event Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is an event where the player must play as Link against a computer-controlled Dark Link. Although Dark Link is not unlockable, Link's outfit can be swapped to a black color.
• In Twilight Princess, during a scene that explains the background of the Twili, Link and Ilia are used as examples of greedy Hylians going after the Triforce. Afterwards it shows three Shadowy links, all with glowing red eyes, as examples of the Twili.