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pumpkinsouppe · 2 months

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I love how different I treat OOT link vs taol link in my head

OOT link is a tragic character in OOT yes, but his story from Majora’s mask onward is not a tragedy. He relearns what it’s like to love and to live despite the pain and terrors. He is the ultimate symbol of hope and learning to cope with one’s own grief, to forge a bright future despite the past. Yes, maybe if link stayed in the future world of OOT instead of returning to the past he would have found more tragedy or even death, but his story in Majora’s mask is one of the most hopeful stories any link has faced. The damn game ends with a wedding!! The game symbolizes and cherishes love and happiness more than anything, link is NOT a tragic character during or post Majora’s mask.

TAOL Link is the ultimate tragic character in my eyes. Yes we get very little of his story since the games are very old but I would argue that the world tloz/TAOL link lives in is even more apocalyptic than botw/totk. You start as a child in the middle of nowhere, a sword thrust upon you and a destiny you’re forced to follow to save a strange princess from a monstrous pig. Myself and others even theorize monsters originally burned down link’s village and people and that’s how he ended up where he is at the start of the first game, from fleeing that horror. By the time of TAOL, he’s around 16/17 now so 6-7 years older than in the original tloz. He has been in possession of two pieces of the triforce all that time and is forced to find the third to prevent the resurrection of the same monstrous pig. Now this takes context from other games but if you’re familiar with Ganondorf from OOT, you know that his possession of the triforce of power for 7 years has physically altered his appearance. I personally view it as the triforce of power is physically altering him to look similar to the goddesses, more animalistic than human (even if it’s only been a slight alteration between the past and future). TAOL Link has had both the triforce of power AND wisdom in his possession since he was 10… who knows how that has changed not only his body but his mind. With his possession of the triforce of courage by the end of the game, who knows how that will affect his soul too. Most often when link has had the triforce of courage for long periods of time, he loses any sort of fear or care for himself. Albw is a great example of how his sacrificial desire to protect others can cause more harm than good, the same reason why link died in botw (even though I have more thoughts on that). Taol link, a child by all rights, thrust into a terrible world to protect two different princesses, and slowly turning into the perfect puppet of the goddesses. The triforce gives you the power to grant any wish you want, but what if the cost is losing your own free will the longer you have them? Link is harboring the triforce to prevent a resurrection and further ruin, surely that doesn’t come without consequences. OOT link was able to break free from his fate and was forced to confront his greatest fear: himself. The cycle of never ending grief… was broken. However similar to OOT link, TAOL link also had to confront himself. But it wasn’t to confront his trauma and fears, it was a test specifically designed by the former king and the goddesses. A perfectly designed test to prove to the goddesses that he is the perfect puppet and harborer of the triforce: dark link. I think shadow link is a more apt term because dark link is not an evil version of link, dark link is the manifestation and mirror of all of link’s strengths, fears, kills, deaths, and courage. He is a perfect puppet of link just minus his weaknesses, the link the goddesses want him to be. So TAOL link doesn’t confront himself to conquer his grief and fears, he confronts himself to fully submit to the triforce and the goddesses and the kingdom. He is the link who has fully fallen victim to the triforce and may never be himself ever again.

So all that to say, I will defend OOT/mm to my death bed about how link’s story is not a tragic one. And I will argue to that same death bed about how tloz/taol link’s story is.

#I LOVE LOVE LOVE LVOEV PEVP TAOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#I ALOS LOVE LOVELL OVELVOEVVOELEVO OOT AND MM!!!!!!!!#dark link in OOT has a very similar concept too!! except he’s not the ultimate challenge link needs to face like in TAOL #it’s why I hate dark link in twilight Princess and others game bc instead of a test by the goddesses he’s now just evil link #booo tomato tomato tomato boooo #in this house we love and appreciate dark link as a test by the king of Hyrule #tloz #OOT #TAOL #the legend of Zelda #ocarina of time #the adventure of link #Zelda 2

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katlimeart · 5 months

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Made in 2023

If you've seen this anywhere else, I posted it back on my deviantArt when it was made.

Daisy cosplaying as Impa from The Legend of Zelda franchise

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mango-unit · 2 months

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post number five

holy shit the zelda timeline is a mess.

ok so you got ocarina of time, right? ganondorf plots and schemes to break into the sacred realm, claiming the triforce and becoming the demon king ganon, before a hero rises up to claim the master sword and defeat him. he is thusly sealed away forever.

then he goes back in time and warns the royal fsmily before that ever happens, leading to ganondorfs execution. this causes a paradox, which creates a branch in the timeline: the ganon-is-sealed timeline, and the ganondorf-is-executed timeline.

wind waker takes place after ganon is sealed. once ganon inevitably returns (a la alttp), there is no hero to save them (because link went to the past) and they turn to the gods for help. this adds up neatly.

twilight princess takes place after ganondorf is executed. the royal family botches the execution, and he is sealed into the twilight realm, where his flesh literally re-manifests from the simmering rage and resentment the twili feel for those who live in the light realm. this adds up neatly.

ok, so far were doing pretty good. we have a clearly defined timeline branch after oot, which leads into majoras mask and then twilight princess very neatly, or wind waker and then phantom hourglass to spirit tracks very neatly, depending on which conclusion you go from. then put skyward sword, which is very clearly first, right at the beginning. this is a really solid chronology, right?

yeah. but what about, like… ALL OF THE 2D GAMES.

a link to the past, oracle of ages, oracle of seasons, links awakening, a link between worlds, triforce heroes, the minish cap, four swords, four swords adventures, the legend of zelda, and the adventure of link…

you can make a solid case for a handful of these on the current timeline i just outlined. but how are you supposed to make alttp work, and by extension oox, la, tloz, and taol?

in ocarina of time, the sacred realm is locked behind the master sword, which is locked behind the door of time, which is locked behind the spiritual stones, which are locked behind the different leaders of the various races of hyrule. they very clearly took a lot of precautions to make sure nobody would get into the sacred realm. they were very clearly worried about that threat.

as such, ganondorf needed to do some significant plotting in order to make his way into the sacred realm. the key to his plans was link, the descendant of hylias chosen hero, who is featured in skyward sword. only link would be able to draw the master sword, so even if ganondorf gathered the spiritual stones he wouldnt be able to enter the sacred realm. this is why he scares link into claiming the master sword by casting various curses on the people of hyrule using regular old dark magic.

this is the accepted tale for the sealing war.

now look at the sealing war in a link to the past…

ganondorf and his band of thieves come across the sacred realm completely by accident. zero scheming involved. absolutely no clever displays of his villainous cunning.

as they approach the sacred realm, the eyes of ganondorf and his bandit allies change colors, and they begin to attack eachother in a bloody, violent brawl. the only one left alive is ganondorf, who had killed his closest allies with his own hands. it is then that ganondorf claims the triforce with blood-soaked hands, becoming the demon king, ganon.

his rage flows across hyrule. the people suffer. they pray for a hero to come and save them - none does. the sages hole up in hyrule castle, placing a seal over the sacred realm - one that presumably did not previously exist - and locking ganon inside. the knights of hyrule laid down their lives to protect the sages; almost every last one of them fell in combat. the link in alttp is the descendent of those few courageous souls who lived.

does this sound, at all, like ocarina of time?

like…

in any shape, way, or form.

outside of the key connection of ganondorf entering the sacred realm, becoming ganon, attacking hyrule, and then being sealed in the sacred realm, it sounds like a completely different story. but its the same event, because its… you know… the creation of ganon.

in alttp, none of the precautions we see in oot were taken. ganondorf quite literally waltzes into the sacred realm and then kills all of his closest friends. and in alttp, there was no link present to save them, which is why the knights of hyrule almost completely died out protecting the sages. meanwhile, in oot, link is the essential key component of ganondorfs carefully laid out plan.

how does nintendo resolve this?

“uhhhh…. what if…….. what if link died? like, after claiming the master sword. after cementing himself as a hero by personally awakening the sages and solving everyones problems. what if he just died at the end of the game, and was completely forgotten by history for some reason we dont provide?”

i feel better already.

link dying would not branch the timeline. the other branch, which makes logical sense and has no contradictions, is done through time travel, not hypothetical what-if scenarios. therefore, it only makes sense that link dying is not any sort of canon conclusion that would branch the timeline.

so for now lets place alttp in the ether. it has an event thats equivalent to ocarina of time, but no precautions were taken for the sacred realm, and no link was present to defeat ganon.

after alttp, the triforce sends link to another kingdom which needs his help. twice. it turns out this was to prevent the revival of ganon, who he killed in alttp. however, he ultimately fails to prevent his revival - so instead he just kicks ganons undead ass. this details the events of the oracles games.

after this happens, he starts sailing home, but a nasty storm catches him and he crash lands on kohilint. im not spoiling this game because its fantastic, but lets just say for now that link goes through an ultimatum type experience that makes him rethink the virtue of this whole adventuring thing before finally sailing home. this details the events of links awakening.

i assume he settled down at this point. his descendent stops a plot by the royal family of an inverted kingdom to steal their triforce. this details the events of a link between worlds. (also. gramps is 100% the link from alttp. resigned from adventure, he instead helps train the new hero in an edu-taining way.)

then, the new link heads out to new kingdoms, much like his predecessor did. he winds up in hytopia, where he is enlisted as one of three heroes to break a curse on their princess. this details the events of triforce heroes.

hundreds of years pass. somehow, ganon returned. the zelda of this time breaks apart the triforce of wisdom and sends out impa to find a hero capable of collecting the pieces and using their power to defeat ganon, who wields the triforce of power. (the triforce of courage is locked away in a land distant to the kingdom, north of hyrule. it looks like the royal family got wise and decided to finally take some precautions to prevent somebody from easily claiming the full triforce.) this details the events of the legend of zelda.

the hylians move north. around 7 years later, greater hyrule is established. link notices a triangular mark on his hand and seeks the wisdom of impa, who recognizes it as the triforce of courage. she brings him to an ancient temple long lost to time and pulls out a manuscript written in unfamiliar symbols; the language was forgotten by history. because link bears the triforce, however, he can read it. it tells him where the triforce of courage is held, and it tells the legend of the first generation zelda, who was cursed into a timeless sleep (leading her guilt-ridden brother to decree all future daughters of the royal family would be named zelda). link sets out to find the triforce of courage and break the curse on zelda the first. this details the events of the adventure of link.

pretty straightforward, clear-cut story. except for the fact that i really dont think skyward swords zelda was cursed in an eternal sleep, neither do i think she had a brother.

it could have been a descendent of the true zelds the first, though. hyrule as a kingdom wasnt really established yet in skyward sword. maybe sonais daughter?

anyways, this story in a vacuum is pretty consistent. but, due to the problems with alttp, it doesnt really fit with the greater timeline. so the longest running story of sequels in the legend of zelda (excluding zelda 1 and 2) just doesnt have a satisfying placement. theres gotta be some other branch, right? some time before the events of ocarina of time, so that the imprisoning wars can truly be parallel events…

depending on your timeline theory, that leaves only minish cap and skyward sword. minish cap doesnt deal with time travel… which leaves skyward sword.

theres one moment in skyward sword that fits the bill pretty well. people refer to this moment as the skyward split. some believe it, some are skeptical, some arent even aware of it. i will propose my theory on the exact nature of the skyward split and let you decide.

in skyward sword, link wishes upon the triforce for the complete destruction of the imprisoned (demise). the mother goddess island detaches from skyloft and falls onto the sealed grounds, perfectly slotting in and just straight of killing that dude permanently. skyloft itself remains in the sky; there is no plateau where the mother goddess island fell, and in fact, its actually kind of set into the ground because of how perfectly it slotted into the spiral shape of the sealed grounds.

sorry. i like matpat as much as the next guy, but skyloft is definitively not the great plateau.

seeing this, ghirahim travels into the past and frees demise fully before his eventual death. he was transformed, in the ancient past, from the imprisoned back into his full humanoid demonic flame-headed self. link follows ghirahim and does battle with demise, defeating him and locking his soul in the master sword, where his very essence would decay into nothing in the presence of the holy light. basically demises fundamental soul was horribly crippled into the tiniest imaginable hateful little fragment of what it once was. and it was only getting tinier. exponentially weaker. no hope of escape until his soul is so worn thin it tears at the seams and he simply ceases to be. thats the idea, anyways.

this marks two fundamentally different, conclusively final endings for demise/the imprisoned. one where he was killed by the triforce as the imprisoned in the present, and one where he was trapped in the master sword only to be eternally decayed at an exponential rate. ironically, the imprisoned met his demise, while demise was imprisoned. but yeah, inevitably demise too will meet his demise.

after getting his ass handed to him, demise recites - or describes, depending on who you ask - a curse. it declares the endless cycle of incarnations of the hatred of the demon clan, who demise ruled. then he gets sealed in the sword and shuts up. its at this point that link and zelda leave the blade under the care of impa and return to the future. the future remains unchanged, however. the imprisoned was still crushed by the mother goddess statue island. so link and zelda returned to their original timeline.

some would say this implies a causal loop. that demise escaped the master sword, then impa sealed him in the sealed grounds, turning him back into the imprisoned for the events of skyward sword. however, demise would have been WAY too weak to ever escape the master sword - im talking barely conscious, let alone functionally powerful enough to overpower a blade containing the power of all three golden goddesses (the sacred flames that temper the goddess blade into the master sword). demise did not escape. therefore, timeline branch.

in one timeline, link and zelda are made aware of the curse that demise spoke of. in the other… well, theyre the only ones that demise spoke to, and that version of them doesnt exist in that timeline, so its safe to say nobodys aware of the curse.

in the timeline where they are aware of the curse, they take precautions. they lock the sacred realm behind the master sword, which they lock behind the door of time, which they lock behind the spiritual stones, which they lock behind the leaders of the various races of hyrule. thus, ganondorf must plot. he must allow link to claim the master sword.

in the timeline where they arent aware of the curse, they dont worry about the sacred realm all that much. they arent even sure where it is, and its not like theres an endless cycle of demonic hate hell bent on destroying everything the gods created or anything. nobody knows where the sacred realm is anyways, so they dont worry about those precautions. thus, ganondorf comes across the sacred realm completely by accident. as for why theres no link…

uh…. what if……… what if link died?

or what if link is just a nameless knight of hyrule, who was not made a legendary hero by saving zelda the first, forging the master sword, or defeating demise?

honestly i dont know why no link was present. whatever answer you like i guess. this timeline is such a mess theres no way to account for every single lore detail

#legend of zelda #zelda timeline #zelda theory #skyward sword #ocarina of time #loz oot #alttp #loz alttp #a link to the past #downfall #loz skyward sword #master sword #demise skyward sword #triforce

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syl-stormblessed · 1 year

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uncharted-constellations · 11 months

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(I would include the game art but their designs are identical despite not being the same character)

TLOZ Zelda: Breaks the triforce of wisdom to hide the pieces from ganon before being captured, Link is called upon by her nursemaid Impa after saving her, to re-assemble the the triforce of widsom, destroy ganon, and rescue Zelda from his clutches. (Link was about 10 at the time, Zeldas age was unestablished)

TAOL Zelda: Many generations ago she was cursed by her brothers associate into falling into a deep sleep after she refused to give up information about the triforce. Link now 16, is told by impa that he is destined to awaken her due to the mark of the triforce, and is sent on an adventure by her to do so, where he inevitably uses the triforce to wish her awake (again this zeldas age is unestablished, other than technically being several generations older due to magic nap, the other zelda from the first game does not make an appearance)

#tloz #loz #taol #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #zelda ii #zelda 2 #adventure of link #poll #polls #ive been in a zelda mood for seemingly obvious reasons #and i find it interesting that this link is really one of the only links to not have #any other real potential romantic relationship options #due to a massive lack of named characters #nor any real interactions between him and either zelda #beyond saving them at the end of the game anyways #i assume theres some extended media but i was curious to see others opinions #he could br a gay/ace king too idk

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macaroonkitti · 3 years

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Various Zelda concepts!

Featuring Time's Zelda, Worlds' Zelda, Legend's Zelda, and Hyrule's Zelda

#for rosie I'm combining The Legend of Zelda 1 princess and the Adventure of Link princess into one #for simplicity #it's the same Link anyway #he'll just be gone from Hyrule for a few years #loz #legend of zelda #tloz #doodles #concepts #redesigns #princess zelda #albw #ooa #oos #alttp #taol #oot

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fatefulfaerie · 4 years

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Temple

Linktober Prompt Day 17/31

Incarnation: The Adventure of Link

Word Count: 1,180

Triggers: None

Partially inspired by fan art that can be found @poes-art but I think the artist is @poesocs now. Either way, the art is beautiful and I’m not even an artist but I love your style!!

Link walked up the stairs of the temple and to her side, hands on the stone slab which she lay upon. He looked with concern at her frame, even as the three triangles started to emanate, circling and circling at their union.

Zelda’s brown hair was tucked behind her ears and behind her crown and her eyelids were closed with no crinkle or force. Her chest rose and fell in her continued sleep as Link stared at her in her red dress, thinking upon how long she had been sleeping.

Ages, Impa had said, since the Golden era of Hyrule, about eighty years before Link was even born. No one knows why she was put to sleep, but legend says that only the full Triforce could wake her and Impa sent him on a quest to find the last piece and do just that, righting Hyrule’s last wrong.

Link looked up to the full Triforce, wishing upon it before a flash of light beamed from the golden relic. Link stepped back from the altar in preparation.

The Princess sat up, obviously disoriented, before looking over at Link.

“Where am I?” She asked.

“The North Palace,” Link replied. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

The Princess took a couple tired blinks as she recalled her past, her brow furrowing and her head looking down.

“My brother, the prince,” she said. “After the King died, the Triforce was passed to him, but he was imbalanced, so the Triforce split. I knew where courage went and he asked me, rather forcefully, but I refused him. I saw his imbalance, he would corrupt that power. He sent for a wizard to pull the information from me, but the wizard saw his corruption too, and put me to sleep.”

The Princess thought upon her words, pondering them before her gaze shifted to Link.

“I assume you’ve claimed the Triforce,” Zelda said. “If you are in danger of my brother, I can talk him out of it. He’ll listen to me.”

“Your Highness,” Link started hesitantly. “You’ve been asleep for eighty years. The man you say was your brother is known as a King in our history, a foolish one who led Hyrule into decline, but he wasn’t corrupt. He neglected his duties out of grief for you, his only remarkable law being that women of the Royal Family continue to be named after you. Now that I know the full story, I’d say he regretted his actions.”

The Princess searched nothing as she processed the information. Link could tell she was trying to maintain a certain elegance and composure.

“What of Hyrule?” She asked. “How far did it decline?”

“In the chaos, some of your people revived Ganon, who took the Triforce of Power and split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight shards.”

The Princess gave a heavy sigh.

“Your Highness,” Link said. “You need not worry. I already saved Hyrule from that threat. Hyrule has begun to prosper.”

“You are quite the hero…” she said as she slid off the altar, but her last word was phrased strangely and expectantly, as if asking a question.

“Link,” he said. “My name is Link.”

“You are quite the hero, Link,” Zelda said as she approached. “Thank you.”

She kissed him on the cheek, to which Link took a step back in response, his head slightly bowed.

“I, uhh…appreciate the sentiment, Your Highness, but…I have a girlfriend.”

“No worries,” she said, Link breathing a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how formal he had to act around this Princess. She was still royalty and probably expected a certain amount of decorum, and could still ask for his head. “It’s just a thank you. It’s good to know heroes these days do good deeds for the sake of good deeds and not things like wealth or fame or desire.”

“E…xcept for the fact that my girlfriend is the current…Princess…Zelda…who I saved…but at the time it was just to save Hyrule. The whole love part came later.”

“I see,” the Princess said with an encroaching smile. Link could see the resemblance to his own Zelda, and it was no surprise that this girl’s brother was an ancestor. The only difference was that his Zelda’s hair was a slightly lighter brown and naturally curly, as well as having blue eyes when this Princess had brown.

“I can escort you to the castle if you’d like, Your Highness,” Link said politely, mostly just wanting to get home.

“Is there still danger in Hyrule?” She asked as they walked from the temple.

“Ganon’s minions want my blood,” Link explained. “To resurrect Ganon again. I have been evading them for the past six years with Zel joining me off and on, more on recently since we started a relationship. Well, actually, before I set out on this quest, we kind of came to a standstill.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told Zelda we should break up, that a nomadic lifestyle with me was not fit for a Princess, that it was too dangerous and that she should rule her kingdom. She disagreed, saying that she loves me and that she wants to stay with me forever. We argued, Impa sent me on this quest, and I took the opportunity to think things through.”

“And?”

“And…I want her to stay with me. I would miss her too much. I know she enjoys journeying Hyrule more than the stuffy life of being a Princess, I know that will make her happy and I know I can protect her. The only problem is that it would leave Hyrule without a leader permanently. Hyrule would dissent into chaos, especially with the onset of Ganon’s minions. Without proper control of the army the minions will only grow. Producing an heir is out of the question, well not out of the question, but…well, yes out of the question and even then it would be years until—“

“I could do it,” the Princess interrupted. “Lead Hyrule.”

Link looked over quickly.

“Really?” He asked with a hint of excitement.

“I am still technically a Princess of Hyrule,” she said. “And I knew the Golden Age well, as well as why my father’s reign was so successful.”

“I…I just,” Link said, speechless. “Thank you.”

The Princess shrugged.

“I see it as a win-win situation,” she explained. “I’ve awoken to a Hyrule in which I can serve a purpose and the hero who saved me can live out his days happily.”

Link could barely contain his excitement, his beaming smile even as they trekked to Hyrule Castle.

He politely excused himself once they arrived, rushing to his own Zelda’s chambers.

Link opened the door to find her in her pink dress, adorned with white bows. Her attendants were readying her for a day of propriety she didn’t want to undergo. He smiled and approached her.

“Link,” she said, spotting him. “I won’t change my mi—“

He would explain why later, but for now, he kissed her knowing they would live happily ever after.

#linktober #tloz #taol #link #zelda #zelink #princess zelda #the legend of zelda #the adventure of link #hyrule #triforce #hope it's not too confusing #I made sense out of lore that made no sense #at least i think i did

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