Link/Hero of Time

**Link** was a legendary hero of Hyrule and Termina known as the **Hero of Time**.

## Biography

Link has been raised as one of the Kokiri, the children of Kokiri Forest. Unlike the other Kokiri, Link does not have a Fairy companion and is thus shunned by their self-proclaimed Kokiri inside the Tree, the Great Deku Tree was doomed to die before Link started. He had been cursed by a man named Ganondorf, as revenge for not giving him the Kokiri's Emerald. He warns Link that this evil man seeks the Triforce, and fears a great calamity will befall Hyrule should he seize it. Before passing away, the Great Deku Tree directs Link to Hyrule Castle where he is to find Princess Zelda.

At the Hyrule Castle garden, Link meets Princess Zelda. She believes that Ganondorf is seeking the Triforce. Zelda's description of Ganondorf matches that of the man who killed the Great Deku Tree, as well as the man from Link's nightmare. Zelda asks Link to obtain the three Spiritual Stones so that he can enter the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce before Ganondorf reaches it, and ultimately save Hyrule. Link collects the other two stones: the first from Darunia, the leader of the Gorons, and the second from Ruto, the princess of the Zoras. Link returns to Hyrule Castle, where Ganondorf is pursuing Zelda and her caretaker Impa on horseback, as in his earlier nightmare. Link attempts to stop Ganondorf, who warns him not to interfere with his plans. After Ganondorf rides off, Link retrieves the Ocarina of Time that Zelda had left behind for him. Inside the Temple of Time, Link uses the Ocarina of Time and the Spiritual Stones to open the door to the Sacred Realm. Through the door, Link finds the Master Sword, a legendary sword forged to destroy evil. As he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, Link is sealed away, and Ganondorf appears and claims the Triforce for himself.

Seven years later, an older Link is awakened as the Hero of Time by Rauru, the Sage of Light. Rauru explains that Link's spirit was sealed for seven years until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf, who is now the King of Evil. The seven Sages can imprison Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm, but five are not aware of their identities as Sages. Link is returned to the Temple of Time; there he meets the mysterious Sheik, who guides him to temples under Ganondorf's control. Link defeats the evil lurking in each temple, thus awakening Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa and Nabooru as the Sages. Link also returns to the Kokiri Forest, where he finds that none of his friends have grown up, and most now no longer recognize him. After awakening Saria as a Sage, Link also finds that the Deku Tree Sprout has sprouted as the successor to the Great Deku Tree. He reveals Link's hidden past and explains to him that he is not a Kokiri, but actually a Hylian, orphaned in the wars that raged before Hyrule was united. While in the Lost Woods, Fado also references the fact that Link is not a Kokiri by asking Link if he is going to become a Stalfos. When Link was a baby, his mother fled with him to Kokiri Forest and, mortally wounded, left him under the Deku Tree's protection. He was brought up as one of the Kokiri and knew no differently.

After the five Sages awaken, Sheik reveals herself to be Princess Zelda in disguise and the seventh Sage. She tells Link that Ganondorf's heart was unbalanced, causing the Triforce to split into three pieces. Ganondorf acquired only the Triforce of Power, while Zelda received the Triforce of Wisdom and Link the Triforce of Courage. Ganondorf then kidnaps Zelda and imprisons her in his castle. The other six Sages help Link enter the castle, where he fights to the evil king's sanctum. There, Link frees Zelda and nearly defeats Ganondorf, but he destroys the castle in an attempt to kill Link and Zelda. After the duo escapes the collapsing castle, Ganondorf emerges from the rubble and engages Link. Using the Triforce of Power, he transforms from his human form into a boar-like monster named Ganon and immediately knocks the Master Sword from Link's hand. With Zelda's aid, Link retrieves the Master Sword and defeats Ganon. The seven Sages then seal Ganondorf into the Dark Realm. The battle now over, Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to send Link back to his original time to live out his childhood, at which point Navi departs. He is last seen when he encounters Princess Zelda again in the Castle Courtyard to warn her about Ganondorf and the future events that would unfold.

Having been returned to his childhood by Princess Zelda at the end of Ocarina of Time, Link goes on a search for a "beloved and invaluable friend", implied to be the fairy Navi,who flew away at the end of Ocarina of Time. While traveling deep inside the Lost Woods, Link is ambushed by the Skull Kid and his two friends, the fairy siblings Tatl and Tael. The Skull Kid makes off with Link's Ocarina of Time, and in the subsequent chase, Link is transported into the parallel world of Termina, where the Skull Kid uses his magic to turn Link into a Deku Scrub. During this process, Tatl becomes separated from the Skull Kid and Tael, and joins Link in order to find them, becoming his fairy companion for the remainder of the game.

In the caves beneath Termina, Link meets the mysterious Happy Mask Salesman, who agrees to return Link to his normal shape if Link returns Majora's Mask to him, an artifact of ancient power that was stolen by the Skull Kid. As Link embarks on this quest, he learns little by little of the looming catastrophe threatening the land: the Moon in the sky has assumed a horrible, evil face and has abandoned its orbit, and will collide with Termina in exactly three days. Link's quest to restore himself quickly becomes a quest to save the land, during which he not only returns to his original form, but acquires masks enabling him to freely transform between his Hylian, Deku, Goron, and Zora forms.