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Dark Link is a dark clone of Link generally created by shadow magic. They are usually used by another antagonist to outmatch Link as they are a reflection of the Hero himself. They are different from Shadow Links who appear to either be guardians or the manifestation of Ganondorf's resentment. The relationship between the two shadowy versions of Link is pure speculation and nothing official has ever been said about it.

History[]

Adult Timeline[]

Ocarina of Time[]

OoT Dark Link

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Dark Link appears as a mini-boss in the Water Temple, where he materializes from Link's reflection in the water to confront him. Dark Link reacts to most of Link's movements and attacks, usually defending himself in the process. Dark Link has the same amount of health as Link, the number of Heart Containers the hero has equals the number of hits with the Master Sword it takes to defeat him. When hit, Dark Link will fall through the floor and spring back up afterwards. At the beginning of the battle, Dark Link is nearly transparent, but will gradually become opaque as the battle progresses. When he is fully opaque, he will become more aggressive and actively attack Link instead of simply blocking his moves. Once Dark Link is defeated, Link is able to continue on to a room containing the Longshot. Dark Link shares Link's voice but heavily distorted.

Spirit Tracks[]

ST Dark Link

Dark Link appears as the final challenge of the "Take 'Em All On!" mini-game in Hyrule Castle Town. In this appearance, he attacks by using a blade, placing bombs and shooting arrows. He can also perform a jump attack like Link, only his is higher and much slower. Dark Link also mimics Link's sword attacks when he himself is not attacking, so Link must block his attacks and then counterattack. Conversely to his appearance in Ocarina of Time, he slowly fades from a pure black to a translucent gray as he takes damage, and once defeated, he falls over on his back and disappears. The room he is fought in is the only one which contains Hearts, despite Joynas's earlier warning that there is no way to recover health in the challenge rooms.

Child Timeline[]

Twilight Princess[]

The Interlopers

Dark Link in the role of the Interlopers.

Dark Link makes a cameo appearance during a cut-scene in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that tells the tale of how the Twili race was banished to the Twilight Realm. three Dark Links take on the role of the powerful Dark Interlopers who sought to control the Sacred Realm with their magic before being banished to the Twilight Realm by the Light Spirits.

Downfall Timeline[]

A Link to the Past[]

ALttP Dark Link

In the Game Boy Advance port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The Dungeon Boss is four Dark Links, each with a unique tunic, corresponding to the colors of the Links that hold the Four Sword. Reaching the final room of the dungeon causes the four different colored Four Swords to rise into the air, and following this the Dark Links will drop from above. Each Dark Link has slightly different abilities, but they all aggressively attack with sword swipes and do not open their defenses often. They are quite agile, able to leap backwards out of the way of Link's attacks. They are fought one at a time, and they get progressively more difficult. The green Dark Link uses the Pegasus Boots to suddenly dash at Link. the red Dark Link uses the Spin Attack and the Pegasus Boots. The blue Dark Link also uses Pegasus Boots and the Spin Attack, but he can also leap into the air to perform a Down Thrust. The purple Dark Link is the final Dark Link, and utilizes the Pegasus Boots, Spin Attack, Down Thrust, and the Sword Beam. Defeating each Dark Link will break the curse on the Four Sword and return it to normal.

Oracle of Ages[]

OoA Dark Link

During the second phase of the final battle, Veran creates four clones of Dark Link that mimic Link's movement in reverse and act as dangerous obstacles. Unlike other appearances of Dark Link, these clones do not attack, and are useful in recovering health, as they are easily destroyed and drop one Heart each.

The Adventure of Link[]

AoL Dark Link

In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, he appears as the final boss after Link defeats Thunderbird in the Great Palace. He serves as the final test before Link can obtain the Triforce of Courage and wake Princess Zelda.

End of the Timeline[]

Breath of the Wild[]

An Armor Set based on Dark Link appears in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The three armor pieces named the Dark Hood, the Dark Tunic, and the Dark Trousers allow Link to have a better speed when wearing the full set at night.

Hyrule Warriors series[]

Hyrule Warriors[]

In Hyrule Warriors, Dark Link appears as a mini-boss in the "A War of Spirit" Scenario. He is summoned by Cia by channeling the darker side of Link's personality into physical form, appearing as a completely dark version of him with glowing red eyes. After the first one is defeated, several more copies are summoned which attack Link and the Hyrulean Forces. Link fights them all with the confidence that he can easily overcome them, but quickly becomes overwhelmed, and is saved by his allies who defeat and dispel the Dark Links.

In the Master Quest DLC pack, Dark Link appears again in the Cia's Tale Scenario, "Darkness Falls". When Cia's dark magic begins to steadily unhinge her mind, she begins summoning several Dark Links to defend herself from Ganondorf's Forces, under the delusion that Link will come to protect her.

Hyrule Warriors Legends[]

In Hyrule Warriors Legends, the Dark Links make one final appearance in the Wind Waker Scenario, "Reclaiming the Darkness". They are summoned forth by Dark Cia to capture the real Cia. However they, along with Dark Cia, are once more vanquished by Link and his allies.

Two of Cia's combo attacks with the Scepter involve summoning a circle of Dark Links around her to take out nearby enemies.

A Dark Link Costume is also available to use when playing as Link for players who buy the Hero of Hyrule DLC season pass, or by purchasing all of the packs included in it. The Costume will also turn Link's Weapons into the same color scheme; Epona and the Great Fairy will change color and have glowing red eyes. As Dark Link was spawned from Link's shadow, he himself does not cast one

Hyrule Warriors: Defensive Edition[]

Since Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is a compilation of both games, it retain all the roles it had in the past two games.

Super Smash Bros. series[]

Super Smash Bros. Melee[]

Dark Link, as he appears in The Adventure of Link and Ocarina of Time appears in the Event-match "Link's Adventure", where he must be defeated with Link on the Temple stage.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]

Link is able to take on the appearance of Dark Link as an alternate costume in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This version mostly resembles the one featured in Twilight Princess. Melee's version of Dark Link reappears in the event match "Dark Link Duel" on the Bridge of Eldin stage. As in Melee, Link is the only option to fight against Dark Link. A similar event, known as "Battle of the Dark Sides", is featured for two players, in which Dark Link is fought by Link and Samus together, but is similarly accompanied by Dark Samus, an entity that, like Dark Link, is completely black, instead of resembling the real Dark samus. Toon Link also has an alternate costume that resembles a toon version of the Dark Link seen in Twilight Princess.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U[]

The Dark Link alternate costumes from Brawl return in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U for both Link and Toon Link. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the Link costume is used to represent the Dark Link character in the "Final Battle Team-Up" event match and two entirely darkened Links also appears in the "A Fated Battle" event match.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

In addition to the Dark Link alternate costumes for Link and Toon Link returning from Brawl, Young Link also gains a Dark Link-inspired costume as well.

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