Dark Link

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

Dark Link (sometimes known as Shadow Link or Link's Shadow) is the name given to several different evil counterparts of Link that have appeared as enemies throughout the The Legend of Zelda series. 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 even more.

Background

Dark Link first appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as the final boss. After Link defeated the Thunderbird, Link approached a strange old man 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.

Another 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 expanse of water with a single tree in the middle. Dark Link then emerged as the dungeon's mini-boss and attacked Link. He also had all of Link's techniques and more, making it difficult to defeat him. However, Dark was particularly vulnerable against the Megaton Hammer and could do nothing to evade the power of Din's Fire.

In other games, Dark Link appeared in multiple forms (sometimes called Shadow Links) rather than just one. During Oracle of Ages, Veran summoned several Shadow Links during the final battle. However, these versions were weak and easily defeated, and they primarily followed the battle pattern of Mimics. In Four Swords Adventures, Ganon created a multitude of Shadow Links using the Dark Mirror. According to the Hyrule Historia, those enemies specifically took on Link's form as a reflection of Ganondorf's resentment of the Link from his previous life (in Twilight Princess). These duplicates appeared several times throughout the game as hindrances to Link's efforts, but were easily defeated. They were finally stopped from being created when Zelda closed the Dark Mirror in one of the last levels.

In the Game Boy 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.

Dark Link also appeared in Spirit Tracks as the hidden final enemy of Level 3 of Take 'Em All On!. In Tri Force Heroes, a trio of Shadow Links collectively acted as the boss of the Den of Trials. They are faced in its final area, known as the Baneful Zone, and the items they are equipped with are randomized each time they are challenged.

In Breath of the Wild, there is a Dark Link armor set that can be bought from Kilton after all of the Divine Beasts have been freed. It is known as the Dark set and is described as being the product of Kilton's research into monsters, which is based on "a monster born of darkness". The special effect of this armor set is that it increases Link's movement speed during nighttime, and other characters are startled by Link when he wears it.

Non-Storyline Appearances

Four Swords Adventures also had an alternate multiplayer mode called Shadow Battle. In this mode, all players controlled Shadow Links in a free-for-all battle.

In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Shadow Links appeared as part of the game's Streetpass feature. They represented the Links from others players' save files whom the player has StreetPassed, and they could be challenged to battles when Link finds them.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Event Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 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 Melee, and in all later Smash Bros. games, Dark Link officially appears as one of Link's alternate costumes. A child version also appears as Toon Link's alternate costume, echoing Dark Link's appearance from Four Swords Adventures.
• Dark Link appears as an enemy in Hyrule Warriors. In the Legend Mode scenario "A War of Spirit", Cia takes advantage of Link's streak of reckless streak by bringing Dark Link to life from his shadow and his flaws during a battle at the Temple of Souls. After the initial Dark Link is defeated, more and more Dark Links appear throughout the battlefield and at one point trap Link in a room until Link's allies help him to destroy them. Additionally, in the Wind Waker scenario "Reclaiming the Darkness", two Dark Links appeared as enemies accompanying Dark Cia. Dark Link is also available as an alternate costume for Link through a DLC pack.

In Other Media

• The "shadow" was featured in an issue of Valient Comics' Legend of Zelda comic, where it was shown that it could take on multiple forms, but most usually stayed in Link's form. Thunderbird was also depicted as being his pet. During the story, the shadow takes over Link's homeland of Calatia after overthrowing Queen Selene. He also has Link imprisoned when he visits, but Link is able to destroy his shadow in a trial by combat despite being backed by Ganon.
• Dark Link appears in the manga adaptation of Ocarina of Time, where instead of appearing in the Water Temple, Dark Link is the form taken by the shadow monster from the bottom of Kakariko Well (which was the boss Bongo Bongo in the original game). Dark Link battles Link on horseback and is ultimately vanquished.
• In the manga adaptation of Four Swords Adventures, there is only one Shadow Link whom plays a strong supporting role. He is literally Link's shadow brought to life and has his own personality and motivations. At one point he turns the Violet Link over to his side and befriends him while together they scheme to overthrow both Vaati and Ganon. But Shadow Link ultimately realizes Violet is a traitor who got close to him to learn about Ganon, Vaati and the Dark Mirror. He is wiped out by the light of the Four Sword after the other three Links intervene in his attempted execution of Violet but regenerates from the mirror. Zelda takes pity on him and tells him that he's still a Link still can be a hero. This leads Shadow Link to temporarily assume Violet's form to help the other Links find Vaati's weakness until the real one returned, and in the end he destroys the Dark Mirror (along with himself) so that Vaati could truly be destroyed. The ending implicates that this Shadow Link still lives as Link's actual shadow.

Trivia

• 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.