Dark Link
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| Dark Link | |
|---|---|
     Dark Link as portrayed inOcarina of Time 3D,Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, andHyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. | |
| A boss in | Melee Brawl SSB4 |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
| Console of origin | Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System) |
| Location | Temple Bridge of Eldin |
| Article on Zelda Wiki | Dark Link |
Dark Link (ダークリンク,Dark Link), orShadow Link (シャドウリンク,Shadow Link), is a dark doppelgänger ofLink that appears in multipleThe Legend of Zelda titles, includingZelda II: The Adventure of Link,The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, andThe Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. While Dark Link and Shadow Link are considered separate entities in theZelda series, theSuper Smash Bros. series reconciles elements of both characters in its representation of Dark Link.
Origin[edit]
Dark Link's origin is shrouded in mystery, and he is sometimes believed to be a creation ofGanondorf. Dark Link's strength and abilities differ in the games he has appeared in. In most of Dark Link's appearances, he appears to know every technique Link knows or has learned and can effectively match and counter his attacks; other games also show that he is capable of using Link's items as well.
Dark Link's design varies between games. In his earliest appearances, such asThe Adventure of Link andOcarina of Time, he appears as a completely black version of Link, sometimes with glowing red eyes. After the Dark Interlopers used Dark Link's likeness inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, he started being depicted with various gray shades in his color scheme, occasionally including white hair and lighter-colored underclothes; this color scheme was first directly associated with Dark Link himself inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl before retroactively being featured inZelda titles such asOcarina of Time 3D. While Dark Link himself does not appear inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Dark Armor Set is based upon his updated appearance inOcarina of Time 3D.
Hyrule Warriors features dark versions of many characters, includingYoung Link andToon Link.
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
InMelee, Dark Link is fought by the player controlling a red-coloredLink in theevent matchEvent 18: Link's Adventure. This version of Dark Link is an allusion to the Shadow Link final boss ofZelda II,Link's Shadow; the playable Link's red palette swap likely references the Reflect spell fromZelda II, which turned his tunic from green to red. An all-black character does not appear anywhere else in the game, and aside from the texture and lack of voice effects, he is identical to Link. However, this texture can be applied to any character via thedebug menu or theblack character glitch. If playing as Dark Link through these methods, his icon and voice will be the same as regular Link; the event match's settings can be recreated in the debug menu by setting his sub-color setting to 3 and status modifier setting to 18 (respectively, dark icon and no voice).
In addition to Dark Link himself appearing, a Dark Link-inspired alternate costume is available for bothLink andYoung Link. Unlike later installments, only Link's tunic changes, with his eyes, skin, and hair remaining unchanged.
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Dark Link appears as analternate costume forLink.[1] Rather than the traditional completely-black Dark Link, this costume resembles the design of the Dark Interlopers inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Dark Link also reprises his role as the enemy ofEvent 18: Dark Link Duel. However, the Dark Link in said event is shown as being completely black, like Shadow Link inMelee andZelda II. Despite that, Dark Link uses the damage meter icon for the normal palette swap.Co-Op Event 7: Battle of the Dark Sides features the players as Link andSamus versus Dark Link andDark Samus.
Toon Link also has analternate costume that resembles a toon version of Dark Link, such asShadow Link fromThe Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, while likewise featuring a similar color scheme to that of the Dark Interlopers.
InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
The Dark Linkalternate costumes fromBrawl return inSuper Smash Bros. 4 forLink andToon Link. InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, Link in his Dark Link costume is appears in theFinal Battle Team-Up event match and two Links with the same costume appear in in theA Fated Battle event match.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
In addition to the Dark Linkalternate costume forToon Link returning fromBrawl,Young Link's black costume has been overhauled to make him highly resemble Dark Link as he appeared inOcarina of Time 3D. Due to theHero of the Wild succeeding the Hero of Twilight inUltimate, his Dark Link alternate costume is based on a combination of hisHero of the Wild Set's design and hisDark Series' color scheme.
Gallery[edit]
Dark Link Armor Set as it appears inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Dark Link as he appears as a palette swap inBrawl.
The Dark Link alternate costume inSSB4
Toon Link's Dark Link costume inSSB4
The Dark Link alternate costume inUltimate
Young Link's Dark Link costume inUltimate
Toon Link's Dark Link costume inUltimate
Trivia[edit]
- Although each playable incarnation of Link has a black alternate costume that makes them virtually identical to Dark Link, theHero of Time is canonically the only one among them who actually fought him.
- While theHero of Winds did not fight Dark Link, his successor inThe Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks can do so via theTake 'Em All On! minigame.
- While Dark Link does not make an actual appearance inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, theHero of the Wild can obtain an armor set that makes him appear virtually identical to Dark Link's appearance inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.
- Dark Link andDark Meta Knight are the only "dark" characters to be alternate costumes instead of unique fighters.
- Coincidentally, the Dark LinkEvent Matches in bothSuper Smash Bros. Melee andSuper Smash Bros. Brawl are Event 18.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
 The Legend of Zelda universe | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Link (SSB ·SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Sheik (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Zelda (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Young Link (SSBM ·SSBU) ·Ganondorf (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Toon Link (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) |
| Assist Trophies | Tingle ·Skull Kid ·Midna ·Ghirahim ·Moon |
| Bosses | Ganon |
| Stages | Hyrule Castle ·Great Bay ·Temple ·Bridge of Eldin ·Pirate Ship ·Gerudo Valley ·Spirit Train ·Skyloft ·Great Plateau Tower Underground Maze (Adventure Mode) |
| Items | Heart Container ·Bunny Hood ·Deku Nut ·Fairy Bottle ·Cucco ·Bombchu ·Beetle ·Gust Bellows |
| Enemies | Bubble ·Cucco ·Darknut ·Like Like ·Octorok ·Peahat ·ReDead ·Stalfos |
| Other | Bulblin ·Dark Link ·King Bulblin & Lord Bullbo ·King of Red Lions ·Koume & Kotake ·Majora's Mask ·Navi ·Phantom ·Sacred Land ·Tetra ·Yiga Clan |
| Trophies,Stickers andSpirits | Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits |
| Music | Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate |
| Masterpieces | The Legend of Zelda ·Zelda II: The Adventure of Link ·The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
| Related content | Fire Bar |
