Link (Hero of Legend)/Synopsis

The story of Link, the Hero of Legend from The Legend of Zelda series.
==Downfall timeline==
===Past===
The Hero of Legend exists within the "Downfall" timeline, where the Hero of Time was defeated and killed by Ganon during the final battle of the Imprisoning War in Ocarina of Time. Despite the hero's defeat, the Sages were able to seal Ganon within the Sacred Realm, which the Demon King proceeded to corrupt into the Dark World, a twisted reflection of Hyrule made in his own image.
Nearly a century after the Imprisoning War, Link was born into a long line of Hylian knights serving Hyrule's Royal Family. It is unknown what happened to his parents, but he was eventually taken in and raised by his uncle (a retired knight), with the two living peacefully in a small house near the outskirts of Kakariko Village and Hyrule Castle itself.
===A Link to the Past===
One night, Link hears a telepathic message from Princess Zelda, calling out for help after being captured and locked within the depths of Hyrule Castle by a treacherous sorcerer named Agahnim. Link's uncle, also hearing the message, picks up his sword and heads out to help, telling Link to go back to sleep. Instead, Link gets out of bed, picks up a lantern, and secretly follows his uncle to a secret passageway leading into Hyrule Castle. Upon entering, he finds his uncle mortally wounded after being caught by the guards. Link’s uncle tells the boy to take up his sword and rescue the princess, before succumbing to his wounds and dying in front of Link.
Braving the dungeon, Link finds and rescues Princess Zelda, taking her to the Sanctuary nearby for safety. Zelda and the priest of the Sanctuary tell Link that Agahnim is plotting to free Ganon from the Dark World, and that the only thing capable of stopping them is the legendary Master Sword. On Zelda's advice, Link tracks a wise elder named Sahasrahla to the Eastern Palace for clues on the Master Sword's location. Sahasrahla tells Link to gather three pendants that will grant him access to the Master Sword.
After exploring the Eastern and Desert Palaces, Link finds the Pendants of Courage and Power. On his way to collect the Pendant of Wisdom, Link finds a portal to the Dark World, and upon stepping into it, is transformed into a bunny. Link uses the portals to find a new path to the Tower of Hera in the Light World, and collects the final pendant.
Link heads to the Lost Woods and draws the Master Sword, before suddenly being messaged by Zelda, who says that the Sanctuary is being invaded by Agahnim's forces. Upon returning to the Sanctuary, Link finds the priest, who tells him that Zelda has been kidnapped and brought to Hyrule Castle once again, before promptly dying. Link then goes to Hyrule Castle, where he makes his way to the top and finds Agahnim performing a ritual. Agahnim casts Zelda into the Dark World to fuel Ganon's power before battling Link. After being defeated, Agahnim then casts Link himself into the Dark World.
In the Dark World, Link hears a telepathic message from Sahasrahla, who tells him that Zelda and the Maidens are still alive, and that Link must rescue them in order to prevent Ganon from regaining his power and escaping the Dark World. With Sahasrahla's guidance, Link explores seven dungeons and rescues the Maidens within, reuniting with Zelda herself in the process.
The Seven Maidens use their power to break a barrier surrounding Ganon's Tower, allowing Link to invade the King of Darkness' lair. Making it to the top, Link battles Agahnim once again. Upon the wizard's defeat, a piece Ganon himself rises from Agahnim's cloak and flies to the Pyramid of Power in the center of the Dark World, with Link in hot pursuit. In the Pyramid, Link finds Ganon, who reveals that Agahnim was an extension of himself created to slip into the Light World and manipulate the King of Hyrule. Link and Ganon engage in their final battle, with Link ultimately triumphing using the Master Sword and Silver Arrows.
After Ganon's death, the Dark World returns to its former state as the Sacred Realm, where Link wishes upon the Triforce, undoing Ganon's dark magic and resurrecting everyone who died during Agahnim's conquest. The game ends with Link putting the Master Sword back in its pedestal and returning home to reunite with his newly-revived uncle.
===Link's Awakening===
After Ganon's defeat, Link sets sail on the oceans beyond Hyrule, looking for a new adventure to hone his heroic skills. However, he gets caught in a violent thunderstorm, causing his raft to struck by lightning and knocking him out.
Link wakes up in a mysterious house, where a girl named Marin, who resembles Zelda, tells him that she found him washed up on the beach. She explains that he is on Koholint Island, and that his sword is likely still on the beach. Marin's father, Tarin, returns Link's shield. Link then heads to Toronbo Shores and picks up his sword once again. After doing so, a mysterious Owl flies down and tells Link that the only way to escape Koholint and return to Hyrule is to travel to eight dungeons across the island, collect the magical instruments found within, and play them at the highest peak of the island, where the mystical Wind Fish is asleep in a giant egg and must be awoken.
On the Owl's advice, Link heads to each dungeon in Koholint Island, defeats the monstrous Nightmares within, collects the instruments. Along the way, he helps the people of Mabe Village, Marin's hometown, with various problems, including rescuing a kidnapped Chain Chomp and taking back a castle that was invaded by Darknuts. As he progresses, he begins to form a bond with Marin, who opens up to him about wanting to leave Koholint Island and find a life for herself. Link and Marin even go on a date across the island, as Link escorts her to Animal Village.
However, the island is clearly not what it seems. The villagers behave in strange ways, random characters like talking animals and depressed ghosts pop up, and many of the locations resemble places that Link visited in A Link to the Past. Halfway through the game, Link visits the Southern Face Shrine and discovers the truth: Koholint Island is all just a dream, manifested into physical form by the Wind Fish, and waking the deity will cause the island and all of its inhabits to vanish. Link is disturbed by this, but the Owl insists that it's nothing but a rumor and urges him to continue onward. In the real Face Shrine, the dungeon's Nightmare, Facade, urgently warns Link that waking the Wind Fish will indeed destroy the island, possibly even Link himself.
Before the final dungeon, Link rescues Marin from the top of the Tal Tal Mountain Range and says goodbye to her, with Marin telling Link to never forget her. After gaining all eight instruments, Link plays them in front of the Wind Fish's egg. Link heads inside the egg and confronts the leader of the Nightmares, a shapeshifter named DethI, who wishes to prevent Link from saving the Wind Fish so it can rule the dream world unopposed. During their battle, DethI transforms into Link's greatest fears, including Moldorm, Agahnim, and Ganon himself. After defeating DethI, Link is visited by the Owl, who thanks him for his help. With that, Link meets the Wind Fish, and the two awaken together.
Link awakens, still drifting through the ocean on his destroyed raft. Saddened by the loss of Koholint Island and Marin in particular, Link states into the ocean, only for the Wind Fish to soar overhead. Upon seeing the Wind Fish alive and free, Link smiles, taking solace in the fact that he was able to save the deity and that the memory of Koholint will always be with him.
===Oracle of Seasons===
After returning to Hyrule, Link is transported by the Triforce to the land of Holodrum, where he meets a friendly dancer named Din. Din takes Link into her troupe and teaches him to dance, much to his simultaneous discomfort and delight.
However, their burgeoning friendship is interrupted when Onox, the evil General of Darkness, suddenly crashes the party and captures Din, who turns out to be the Oracle of Seasons. Additionally, Onox sinks the Temple of Seasons, causing the climates of Holodrum to be thrown into disarray. However, not all hope is lost, as Link travels to the subterranean world of Subrosia to explore the ruins of the Temple of Seasons. Inside, Link discovers the Rod of Seasons, allowing him to change Holodrum's seasons at will.
Link finds a male Maku Tree with information on how to recover the eight Essences of Nature in order to restore the seasons to normal. With the Maku Tree's guidance, Link travels to eight dungeons, collecting the Essences of Nature to restore the Temple of Seasons to its former glory and power up the Rod of Seasons.
After collecting the Essences of Nature and returning the seasons of Holodrum to normal, Link storms Onox's Castle in order to save Din. Link and Onox engage in battle, with the General of Darkness revealing his true form as a dragon summoned from the Dark World by an even greater threat. However, Link is still able to defeat Onox and rescue Din. Afterwards, Link and Din celebrate their victory as a sinister duo watch them from a Room of Rites.
===Oracle of Ages===
The Triforce calls Link to save the kingdom of Labrynna, which comes just after Oracle of Seasons. He hears a call for assistance as soon as he touches down, and quickly discovers that Impa, Zelda's caregiver, is being besieged by monsters. Impa requests Link's assistance in her search for a woman by the name of Nayru after he easily scares them away. Following Link's discovery of Nayru, it is revealed that Veran, the Sorceress of Shadows, had Impa under her control in order to trick Link into leading her to Nayru, who turns out to be the Oracle of Ages.
Veran rapidly takes control of Nayru's body, which she then uses to change historical events in order to sabotage the present. Link is the one who goes back in time to save the Oracle and set the ages right with the aid of the Harp of Ages. He teams up with a female Maku Tree, who develops a crush on him and guides him to each dungeons. Along the way, Link earns the ire of Ralph, Nayru's hot-headed childhood friend who seeks to defeat Veran himself.
Eventually, Link confronts Veran at Queen Ambi's palace, where forces the fairy out of Nayru's body and defeats her. However, Veran merely possesses Queen Ambi herself instead, allowing her to continue the Black Tower's construction at an even faster pace. Link rushes to collect the remaining Essences of Time, and upon doing so, he confronts Veran in the Black Tower, eventually defeating the demon fairy and emerging victorious.
===Linked Oracle games===
However, in a linked game, an even bigger conspiracy is revealed: Onox and Veran were mere pawns of Koume and Kotake, the Twinrova sisters and Ganon's surrogate mothers. Koume and Kotake sent Onox to Holodrum so he could cause enough chaos to light the Flame of Destruction, which was ultimately successful in spite of his defeat. Likewise, Veran was sent to light the Flame of Sorrow in Labrynna, with her Black Tower being used as a massive symbol of oppression to successfully complete her part. Throughout the games, Twinrova have been manipulating events behind the scenes and even appear to mock Link himself, with part of their motivation being to get revenge after their defeats at the hands of the Hero of Time. With two Flames lit, Koume and Kotake only need to light the Flame of Despair to accomplish their ultimate goal: the resurrection of their son, Ganon.
On top of that, Princess Zelda travels to Holodrum and Labrynna as an ambassador for Hyrule, seeking to help out the two neighboring lands during their times of crisis. At one point, she is kidnapped by a Vire working for Twinrova, who seek to sacrifice her as a source of power for Ganon's revival. Link immediately chases after the Vire and defeats it, rescuing Zelda once again.
While Link is distracted fighting either Onox or Veran in Onox's Castle or the Black Tower, the Twinrova sisters seize the opportunity to capture Zelda, bringing her to the Room of Rites, where they prepare to sacrifice her in order to resurrect Ganon. With Hyrule's princess being held captive once again, the people of the lands fall into a state of depression, causing the Flame of Despair to finally be lit.
After defeating Onox and Veran, Link is informed that Zelda has been captured by Twinrova. Link reunites with the Maku Trees and the Oracles, who use their combined powers to transport him to the Room of Rites. Link manages to halt the ritual just in time, and he is thrust into a battle against the Gerudo witches.
Upon Link defeating them, the Twinrova sisters instead sacrifice themselves in Zelda's place, successfully resurrecting Ganon. However, without the proper sacrifice, Ganon lacks his former intelligence, reducing him to a mindless monster that only seeks to conquer and destroy the world. However, with his now-properly trained skills and increased strength after years of adventuring, combined with Ganon's lessened power, Link is able to match blows with Ganon without the Master Sword. After a long battle Link is able to defeat Ganon, destroying the King of Darkness once again and foiling Twinrova's schemes.
Link reunites with Zelda and all of their friends to celebrate their victory. Afterwards, Link gets on a new raft and sails away from Hyrule to explore the world once again.
===A Link Between Worlds===
Centuries after the events of the Oracle games, Link has become a celebrated champion in Hyrule's history, earning the title of "Hero of Legend" and being commemorated with a series of paintings in Hyrule Castle that depict his adventures. He is succeeded by yet another adventurer named Link, known as the New Hero of Hyrule.
==Era of the Wilds==
In an unclear timeline long after the events of any of the previous games, a Great Calamity arises to ravage Hyrule and bring the kingdom to ruin.
===Breath of the Wild===
During the latest incarnation of Link's induction ceremony for the Champions of Hyrule, Princess Zelda alludes to several heroes from Hyrule's past, including one connected to the Golden Power (another name for the Triforce in A Link to the Past) of the Goddess: the Hero of Legend.
===Tears of the Kingdom===
Long ago, a legendary bandit named Misko collected and/or stole various valuable clothing items, hiding them around Hyrule and leaving various hints and riddles for adventurers to find them.
In the "Misko's Treasure of Awakening" side quest, Link can find a set known as the Set of Awakening, a complete recreation of the Hero of Legend's clothing and design from the 2019 remake of Link's Awakening. The flavor text for the Mask of Awakening even states that it "resembles a hero who explored a mysterious island that one could visit but not leave", blatantly referring to the Hero of Legend's adventure on Koholint Island.
Category:Synopsis