Characteristics
Humble but brave, these attributes consistent with Link's role as the rightful bearer of the Triforce of Courage. He is known as the "Legendary Hero" in A Link to the Past, "Hero of Time" in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, "Hero of the goddess" in Skyward Sword, "Hero of Winds" in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks and "Hero chosen by the gods" in Twilight Princess.
Link is the chosen bearer of the Master Sword, a powerful magical sword that can be used against evil. As a child, he challenges Ganondorf in order to try to protect Zelda before he inadvertently helps Ganondorf find the Triforce in Ocarina of Time, forcing Link to undo the damage he had caused. Link has several family members, including an uncle in A Link to the Past; an unseen mother in Ocarina of Time, who dies fleeing a war when Link is a baby; a grandmother, who raises him, and a sister, Aryll, in The Wind Waker; and a grandfather in The Minish Cap. His mother and father appear as spirits in the official manga.
He is a young Hylian boy who is renowned for his swordsmanship and fighting skill, such as his boomerang accuracy. Every iteration of Link wears a green tunic and a long green Phrygian cap and has long, pointed ears, a distinctive trait of the Hylian race and their descendants. In the Zelda trading cards released by Nintendo early in the series, it is stated that pointed ears are a sign of the Hylian royal family. In episode 4 of the Adult Saga in the official Ocarina of Time manga series, "Link Vs. Link", Impa gives Link earrings, describing it as a "rite of passage for young Sheikah men"; these later became default aspects of Link's design, starting with Twilight Princess and in Skyward Sword. He has a Triforce mark on his left hand (with the exceptions of Skyward Sword and the Wii version of Twilight Princess), marking him as the one who will find the Triforce of Courage. He uses many weapons and items, such as bombs, the hookshot, the boomerang and the bow and arrows. When he transforms into a wolf in the Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess, he reflects the mystical aspects of the transformation and his heroism.
Though most titles in the series have depicted Link as left-handed, this is not a hard, set rule and is subject to change between games. The Adventure of Link's instruction booklet describes Link setting off "with a magical sword in his left hand and a magical shield in his right". In A Link to the Past, he alternates hands, but this is due to sprite mirroring. The reason for this is explained in the official Nintendo Player's guide as a Hylian superstition that requires the shield to always face Death Mountain (located to the North) to protect oneself from the evil powers originating within the mountain. Starting with Link's Awakening, Link holds his sword in his left hand and his shield in his right, no matter what direction he is facing. In The Minish Cap, however, Link returns to alternately holding his weapon in the right or the left hand, depending on his orientation. At the beginning of the Four Swords Plus (Four Swords Adventures) manga, Link is referred to as the "left-handed hero" after defeating pirates that were raiding a Hylian town. In addition, Link's figurine description in The Wind Waker lists his "manual preference" as left. However, in the animated TV series and the Wii version of Twilight Princess, Link is right-handed, but the latter was done to better mirror the game's control scheme. In the game's official artwork he is shown holding his sword in his left hand. In the GameCube version, Link remains left-handed, as the game uses a traditional control scheme. Thus, Skyward Sword is the first game in the series to feature a definite right-handed Link, with even the concept art reflecting the fact.
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