The Legend of Zelda: Book of the Traitor

*Book of the Traitor* is a *Legend of Zelda* web fancomic written by Mikaela Thorn and drawn by Lore Cox. It began in January 6, 2015 and ran until going on hiatus after Chapter 2 on March 31, 2019. It was initially hosted on Smack Jeeves until the site's closing at the end of 2020, and it is now hosted on Comic Fury.

The comic is an Urban Fantasy set in the *Zelda* equivalent of the modern day (circa 1980s-1990s). The plot is informed by lore and fanon from the games, particularly *Twilight Princess* and *Ocarina of Time*, while much of the characters' stories are rooted in themes of identity.

The comic was originally drawn by artist Olivia, who painted the original prologue but had to leave the project after being unable to draw Chapter 1 to her satisfaction. Lore is in the process of redrawing the prologue to fit the comic's art style, though the redraw is currently incomplete.

Mikaela and Lore dedicated a podcast to talking about the comic.

## Chapters

The full archive can be accessed here.

* Prologue - *"Thousands of years ago..."*
* Chapter 1 - *"We begin in medias res..."*
* Chapter 2 - *"Hang on, let's step back to the beginning..."*

## Story

### Prologue

Inspired by the intro to *The Wind Waker*, the prologue details the cycle of good and evil from throughout Hyrule's history through old paintings, scrolls, and artifacts. The narration focuses in on the Dark Interlopers from *Twilight Princess*, setting up their involvement in the comic's story.

### Chapter 1

Chapter 1 begins in medias res at the chronological middle of the story, with Link rescuing a peculiar clone of himself from a military base run off-grid by former politician Vincent Quays. The two escape thanks to Link's husband Michael using his Triforce of Wisdom to learn how to fly a helicopter, procured with the help of his guardian Sheik. While flying away on the helicopter, Link enthusiastically adopts the clone as his twin brother.

### Chapter 2

Chapter 2 documents the comic's chronological beginning, the day before the Triforce of Wisdom awakens in Mike.

Set thousands of years after the fall of Hyrule, the Republic of New Ordon is recovering from years of war. Link and his husband Michael live in New Ordon City, spending their days with Mike studying Physics at the local university and Link roaming about the town by himself and practicing weaponry. Link is suffering from nightmares that show him events from Hyrule's past, causing him sleep issues and depression. One day, the two are attacked by thugs on the street but are saved by the Triforce of Wisdom awakening with Mike, as well as the intervention of the mysterious guardian Sheik, who has seemingly traveled forward in time from ancient Hyrule. Sheik reveals that Mike is a descendant of the Hyrule royal family, and that the Triforce's split portends destruction. The three set out to save the world, though they don't know from whom or what just yet.

Returning to the present, the team plus Link's clone are hiding out in a cabin in the mountains owned by Mike's family. They learn that Nick can't speak because his body hasn't physically done it yet, but with their encouragement, he is able to name himself Nick. The comic thereafter follows the early events of the story parallel to the team connecting with Nick as he develops his own mind and personality.

## Themes

While the plot is rooted in lore and fanon from the games, the characters' stories are strongly rooted in themes of identity, I.E.: who and what you are vs. who and what others think you should be. LGBTQ+ identities are examined with lead characters Link and Mike being married, and Mike is a transgender man who is estranged from his parents but still close with his older, closeted gay brother Tracy. Sheik's story plays on the "fish out of temporal water" archetype as an ancient man in the modern day when his people are seemingly extinct. Nick's story examines the concept of developing an identity separate from someone you were cloned from, which has roots in a canceled fanfic Thorn attempted to write in 2011 wherein Sheik would have been in that position.