Links

The are a group in . Typically "" refer to a group of characters who are the result of the main protagonist after he is split into multiple copies of himself. In , the Links instead refers to a group of three individual heroes, collectively known as the .
In and , the are featured only in the games' Battle Modes.
The series has used the for games that include multiplayer or co-op gameplay, with the exception of The Minish Cap, where is only briefly split into four to solve certain puzzles and fight enemies. In multiplayer modes, each player takes control of a . In games where single-player mode is offered, the player can switch control between the .
==Biography==
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The Links made their first appearance in Four Swords. After Link and Princess Zelda leave to investigate the Four Sword, which seals the wind mage Vaati, Zelda is suddenly captured by Vaati after he reveals himself. Link is unable to help her and is knocked out, later reawakened by the Great Fairies. Link is split into four after he pulls the Four Sword out of its pedestal by the Fairies' urging. Now tasked with saving Zelda, the Links must work together to get to where she is being held and rescue her from Vaati's Palace of Winds.
The Links travel across the land to several Stages, fighting enemies and collecting Rupees along the way. They compete against each other to collect as many Rupees as possible, but also cooperate with each other to accomplish tasks. At the end of the stage, depending on how many Rupees in total were accumulated, the Links receive a Key from the stage's Great Fairy and are then ranked by how many Rupees each Link collected. The Link with the most Rupees is awarded a Medal of Courage.
The Links eventually reach the Palace of Winds and defeat Vaati. His body is absorbed back into the Four Sword, and Zelda is freed from his hold. With Vaati again imprisoned and the Links' destiny fulfilled, the Four Sword glows as it returns Link to his former self. The Four Sword is then returned to its pedestal.
If there are only two or three players, Link will only be split into two or three Links, respectively. In 's single-player mode, only two Links are used. The player can choose the tunic color of the second Link and switch between the two to complete tasks.
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In the Hyrulean Adventures mode of Four Swords Adventures, Link is again split into four copies of himself upon drawing the Four Sword like in the previous game. Link is called by Princess Zelda to investigate the Four Sword's seal, after dark clouds sweep over Hyrule. However upon opening the Four Sword Sanctuary's portal with the aide of the Shrine Maidens, a dark image of the hero, Shadow Link, emerges from the opening as Zelda and the Maidens are captured and encased in dark crystals. Link follows Shadow Link into the Sanctuary, where he willingly draws the Four Sword from its pedestal to combat Shadow Link, despite the risk of freeing Vaati, and splits into four. The removal of the blade subsequently releases Vaati, who then sends the Links flying away by a twister.
The Links awake to the voice of Kaepora Gaebora in Lake Hylia, who tells them that Zelda and the six Maidens have been captured by evil forces. However, due to Vaati's magic, the Four Sword has been robbed of its former power to vanquish darkness. He informs them that they must collect Force Gems to return the blade to its full strength, only then can they find and rescue the Maidens and Princess Zelda, before finally facing Vaati. Like in , the Links work together and also compete to collect as many Force Gems as possible, as opposed to Rupees. While on their search for Force Gems, the Links also meet Tingle, who is also looking for Force Gems under the belief that he will become a real Fairy if he collects enough. This results in a small rivalry between the Links and Tingle, who occasionally race against each other for large Force Gems. At the end of every stage are Dark Barriers that must be dispelled, by collecting enough Force Gems to strengthen the Four Sword. After completing a stage in multiplayer, the Links are then ranked by how many Force Gems they have collected. Throughout the course of this game, the Links faces a reincarnated Ganondorf, and, during the final battle, they eventually defeat him as Ganon in the Dark World underneath the Tower of Winds, after one fires a Light Arrow into Princess Zelda's ball of light that pierces the beast, and seal him away using the Four Sword.
In a single-player game, the Links can group together to form preset Battle Formations (Cross, Wide, Long, Box), to aide in solving puzzles, pushing blocks, fighting enemies, and performing other tasks. Although the Link donning the green tunic is the default leader, the option exists to use any Link to lead the others.
In a Shadow Battle, the Links instead fight each other in a competitive match.
====Navi Trackers====
In the game mode Navi Trackers, exclusive to the Japanese and Korean release of , the four Links are tasked with finding Tetra's Pirate Crew around a maze with limited time, in order to receive and collect as many stamps as possible. In the game mode's intro, the Link in green is surprised to see doubles of himself, implying that this game mode features different Links from the Hyrulean Adventures mode in . In the single-player campaign, Link instead faces off against Tingle.
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During Link's adventure in , he reforges and empowers the broken Picori Blade (which had been destroyed earlier by Vaati) into the White Sword with the Four Elements. The grants Link the ability to create an additional copy of himself at certain multi-colored tiles, by powering up a Spin Attack charge, holding it until the green gauge (not a Magic Meter) is filled, and moving across the colored tiles. The addition of each new Element in the Elemental Sanctuary grants Link an additional copy of himself, up to four.
Unlike the Four Swords games, the Link copies in The Minish Cap are not individual Links, but rather cloned apparitions that mimic Link's every movement and wear exactly the same green tunic. The clones can be used to perform grouped tasks such as pushing large blocks, or fighting certain bosses such as the Gyorg Pair and Vaati. The placement of the tiles set the formations in which the clones would aid Link in these instances. The Link copies do not last long, however, and will disappear as soon as the green gauge fully depletes itself. The clones will also instantly disappear if they are interrupted; such as from touching a wall or obstruction, or by being hit by an enemy attack. Pressing the R button will also immediately make the Link clones vanish.
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' Battle Mode is a two-player mode that only uses the red and blue tunic colors, and players are assigned randomly. While playing as Link, certain cloning items can be picked up to generate another exact copy which will run in the opposite direction, potentially luring the Phantoms away.
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' Battle Mode features all four Links, and are used to differentiate up to four different players.
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In Tri Force Heroes, there are only three : green, blue, and red. Collectively, they are referred to as the . The green Link is the same hero as in , who arrives in after certain events. He dresses to hide his heroic origins. The origin of the two other heroes, also called Link, is unknown. The three Links gather at Hytopia after King Tuft sends an urgent request asking for heroes to assemble to save Princess Styla, who has been cursed by a witch to wear an ugly outfit she cannot take off. The King's request urges for heroes who have the : pointed ears, sideburns, and side-parted hair. While passing through the land, Link comes across the town during its perilous time. He is immediately spotted by Madame Couture's Assistant and recognized for having these Attributes, and is urged to join the . As only groups of three can enter the Drablands, the witch's domain, Link is paired with two more heroes as they venture into the land and combat its guardians. As these heroes gather, their hair colors also change to match their tunics rather than remaining blond.
As in previous games, the Links are used in the game's multiplayer, and cooperate with each other to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. In single-player, Link can instead be accompanied by two Doppels that can be controlled and switched between at a time. The Links can stack on top of each other as a Totem to reach higher elevations, allowing them to solve different puzzles and fight enemies. To help communicate between players, the bottom screen of the Nintendo 3DS allows for Icons to be pressed, which appear on the top screen. These icons display a range of simple messages, such as to form a Totem or to draw others near. The icons can grow larger with repeated use, to stress the respective message. The Links can also wear an assortment of Outfits, which give them different powers when worn.
==Other Appearances==
=== (Himekawa)===
In the , Link is split into four when he draws the Four Sword in an effort to save Princess Zelda from Shadow Link. Each Link has his own individual personality: Green is focused and motivated, Blue is hotheaded and aggressive, Red is innocent and optimistic, and Violet is calm, cool and collected. Their conflicting personalities and refusal to work together nearly defeats them at the hands of Vaati, but the Links soon realize they need to cooperate in order to defeat him.
===Super Mario Maker===
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In , Totem Link appears as a Spirit with no ability.
==Trivia==
*The Four Elements used to forge the Four Sword matches with each of the four Links' tunics.
*Although Four Swords marks the first game in The Legend of Zelda series where Link is shown his cel-shading appearance in what some fans call "Toon Link" due to the Super Smash Bros. series, it was only shown in 2D art elements, while The Wind Waker introduces it in 3D and to a much wider audience.
*Although Link's clones in The Minish Cap retain the green tunic when he splits, using a has the effect of changing the original Link's tunic to either red, blue or violet, depending on the type. These colors are reminiscent of the Links' tunic colors in Four Swords.
*Interestingly, most of Links' Outfits they obtain in Tri Force Heroes are references to not only past games or other media of The Legend of Zelda series, but also various other Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario and so forth, therefore containing many Easter Eggs.
*Four were once considered for Tri Force Heroes, but were reduced to just three as a four-Link would have been too tall for the 3DS to display properly.
*In Four Swords Adventures, the Links' voices are differentiated through pitch-shifting. Green Link's voice is heard at the normal pitch, while Red Link's is about 10% higher, Blue Link's is about 10% lower, and Purple Link's is about 15% lower.
*Unlike some other incarnations of the main protagonist in the franchise, the four Links do not have a "Hero of" title.
*In Tri Force Heroes, each individual Link is randomly assigned a certain voice of the hero from a prior Zelda game (Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, or A Link Between Worlds) upon beginning his adventure to distinguish them. Pitch-shifting is also used to differentiate the voices only if two or more Links in a party share the same voice. In this case, each player hears their own 's voice at the normal pitch; the second Link with the same voice is heard 5% lower, and the third Link with the same voice is heard 10% higher, similar to Four Swords Adventures.
==Nomenclature==
==Gallery==
File:FS Green Link Bow.png|Green drawing his from 
File:FS Link Artwork.png|Green turning around from 
File:FS Link Catch Artwork.png|Green trying to catch a from 
File:FS Red Link.png|Red jumping from 
File:BlueLinkRupeeFSA.png|Blue clutching a from 
File:FS Purple Link.png|Purple blocking an attack from 
File:FS Four Links.png|Artwork of the four from 
File:FS Links.png|Alternative artwork of the from 
File:FS Links Fighting Octorok Artwork.png|Artwork of the fighting an from 
File:FS Green Link Sprite.png|Green from 
File:FS Red Link Sprite.png|Red from 
File:FS Blue Link Sprite.png|Blue from 
File:FS Purple Link Sprite.png|Purple from 
File:FSA Artwork.png|Artwork of the from 
File:FSA Green Link.png|Green preparing for attack from 
File:FSA Link.png|Green preforming an attack from 
File:FSA Red Link.png|Red defending himself from 
File:FSA Fire Rod.png|Red using a from 
File:FSA Blue Link.png|Blue preparing for attack from 
File:FSA Bomb.png|Blue about to throw a from 
File:FSA Purple Link.png|Purple from 
File:FSA Vio.png|Purple in battle from 
File:FSA Full Power.png|Purple 's gaining the from 
File:FourLinksPosing.png|Art of the from 
File:Four Links.png|Art of the four from (Navi Trackers mode)
File:Two Links.png|Red burning green with a from 
File:Linkgreen.png|Green from 
File:Linkred.png|Red from 
File:Linkblue.png|Blue from 
File:Linkpurple.png|Purple from 
File:NaviTrackers2.jpg|The four in the intro of Navi Trackers from 
File:PHredLinkwForceGem.png|Red from 
File:PH Blue Link Sprite.png|Blue from 
File:PH Red Link Sprite.png|Red from 
File:TFH Illustration.jpg|Promotional artwork of the fighting various enemies from 
File:TFH Costumes Art.png|Artwork of the trying on from 
File:TFH Links Wearing Outfits.png|The Links trying Outfits in Tri Force Heroes
File:TFH Illustration 5.png|The readying for battle from 
File:TFH Playing Totem.png|The in a playing together from 
File:TFH Fire Arrow Artwork.png|Red lighting blue 's on fire from 
File:TFH Stalchampion Artwork.png|The fighting from 
File:TFH Totem Moblin Art.png|The fighting a atop a from 
File:TFH Link Green.png|Green holding up his from 
File:TFH Link Red.png|Red holding up his from 
File:TFH Link Blue.png|Blue holding up his from 
File:BQ Links Render.png|The fighting a and a in from 
File:BQ Links Render 2.png|The fighting a and a from 
File:SMM Three Links Costume Sprite.png|Totem Links costume from Super Mario Maker