Shadow Link

From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia

Not to be confused withDark Link, the recurring Sub-Boss that first appeared inOcarina of Time, andLink's Shadow, the finalBoss ofThe Adventure of Link.

Shadow Link

ArtworkOfficial artwork provided by NintendoRenderOfficial models provided by NintendoModelIn-game modelsSpriteIn-game sprites or icons

Shadow Link artwork from A Link Between Worlds

FSAFour Swords AdventuresALBWA Link Between Worlds

Shadow Link render from Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch)

LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch)

Shadow Link model from Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch)

Shadow Link model from A Link Between Worlds

LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch)ALBWA Link Between WorldsTFHTri Force Heroes

FSAFour Swords Adventures

Main appearance(s)

Other appearance(s)

Cadence of Hyrule

Race

FSAFour Swords Adventures:Demon^[1]

Pronouns

he/him^[2]^[3]

Dungeon(s)

Weakness(es)

FSAFour Swords Adventures:Four Sword

Voice actor(s)

Sachi Matsumoto

Shadow Links are recurringEnemies andSub-Bosses inThe Legend of Zelda series.^{(FSAFour Swords Adventures |ALBWA Link Between Worlds |TFHTri Force Heroes |CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[4]^[5]^{[name references needed]} Shadow Link is a dark reflection of Link.^[2]Hyrule Historia states that the evil thoughts and resentment of Ganondorf, who had been killed by an earlier incarnation of Link inTwilight Princess, manifested through the Dark Mirror in the form of Link.^[1] He is possibly related toDark Link, but has distinct differences in behavior, origin and appearance, making any relationship between them unclear and speculative.

Characteristics

Link's Awakening for Nintendo Switch

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By tapping the game's Linkamiibo after speaking withDampé, Link will be given the+Shadow Link Effect Chamber Stone. If placed while creating aChamber Dungeon, Shadow Link will appear, and will chase and attack Link until one of them is defeated. Once defeated, he will yield variousRupees and aFairy.^[6]

Four Swords Adventures

Hyrulean Adventure

Shadow Link is featured as both a main character and a recurring enemy and boss inFour Swords Adventures. There are many Shadow Links; the Dark Mirror can create an endless supply fromGanondorf's resentment and evil thoughts from his defeat inTwilight Princess,^[1] but they all work together as one. He first appears early in the game in theFour Sword Sanctuary and tricks Link into drawing the Four Sword, releasing the ancient Wind MageVaati and splitting Link into four Links. He and his copies then plague Hyrule by terrorizing its citizens, some of whom blame the Links for their misdeeds. Shadow Links usually show up repeatedly in each stage, often causing mischief using a certain item, such as setting fires with theFire Rod, creating stunning shockwaves with theHammer, or charging at theLinks with thePegasus Boots. Sometimes they will simply taunt the Links by hopping in place and jumping away when they get too close. Defeating a Shadow Link will yield a large greenForce Gem, but they will flee to theDark World if they are not defeated in time or if they evade the Links enough times.

Shadow Link will also sometimes appear and summon aBig Bomb. When this Bomb explodes, all Links on screen will be instantly defeated if they do not take shelter or leave the area before the countdown reaches zero. He will continue to summon an endless supply of Big Bombs until the Links progress through the area. He shows up to do this inThe Coast,The Swamp,The Lost Woods,Pyramid, andThe Dark Cloud stages.

Shadow Link appears as the main boss in theCave of No Return,Village of the Blue Maiden,Desert Temple, and The Dark Cloud stages. He will also appear as aSub-Boss for theMountain Path,Tower of Flames,Kakariko Village,Desert of Doubt andTemple of Ice stages. During each battle, except for the Dark Cloud stage, Shadow Link will eventually take on a random color, and only the corresponding Link can damage him using the Four Sword (bombs can stun Shadow Link if they explode near him, even if they are detonated by a Link that does not match his color). During these battles Shadow Link usually travels back and forth from the Dark World and attacks Link with his copy of the Four Sword. Starting with the battle in the Village of the Blue Maiden, additional Shadow Link copies will jump out of him before the battle begins. Each copy can be defeated individually, but all of the copies will be instantly defeated if the original Shadow Link is defeated. Furthermore, only the original Shadow Link can take on a random color. Shadow Link and his kin are finally defeated once and for all in The Dark Cloud stage when, while the Links engage them in combat,Princess Zelda undoes the seal on the Dark Mirror and takes it into her possession, dispelling them.

Shadow Battle

In the additional multiplayer game inFour Swords Adventures known asShadow Battle, four colored Shadow Links battle for supremacy in a number of different arenas. While appearing identical to the four Links of the normal game, they appear in the same manner as Shadow Link and have his voice at the start of battle. During these battles, Shadow Link has the exact same abilities as Link normally would.

A Link Between Worlds

Shadow Links appear inA Link Between Worlds, but they do not play a part in the main story and have no known connection toYuga orGanon. OnceLink has spoken toGramps and activatedStreetPass, and the player has received a StreetPass tag on theirNintendo 3DS system, a Shadow Link representing another player's Link will appear waiting in one of 18 various locations aroundHyrule or 11 aroundLorule, and a Sign will appear in theStreetPass Meadow offering a hint to his location. When spoken to, he will challenge Link to battle. Accepting this challenge will cause Link and Shadow Link to be transported to a battle arena where they will fight in aStreetPass Battle. In this mode of the game, Shadow Link is only a representation of the other player, and is controlled by the computer. Its Items and gear are determined by the other player when setting up StreetPass in their game. The combined might of the Items held by Shadow Link adds up to a bounty ofRupees that can be won once Link defeats him, and a number of Challenges can be attempted, such as defeating Shadow Link using a specific Item. The player does not always have to StreetPass with another player to receive a Shadow Link, as occasionally one from a mysterious player named "Shade" will appear.

Locations

Shadow Link locations in Hyrule
Shadow Link locations in Lorule

Tri Force Heroes

InTri Force Heroes, three Shadow Links appear as the Bosses of the Baneful Zone in theDen of Trials. They wield powerful versions of the Items that appear in the game, in addition to Swords which will temporarilyCurse Link upon dealing damage. Their Items are chosen randomly, thus requiring a different strategy every time the Shadow Links are fought. They will each aggressively pursue the Links as they attack, making ranged weapons very useful in this battle. Each Shadow Link drops a singleHeart when defeated. Once they have all been defeated, aTriforce Gateway will appear leading to the Baneful Zone's and Den of Trials' final floor, where there are threeTreasure Chests to choose from, containing Silver-rarityMaterials from theSky Realm. If the entire Den of Trials has been completed starting from the first floor, there will instead be eight Treasure Chests, each containing a Gold-rarity Material from a different Area of theDrablands. At the bottom of whichever Chest he chooses, Link will find theFierce Deity Armor.

Other Appearances

Four Swords (Himekawa)

Non-Canon Information

The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.

Shadow Link withVaati behind him from theFour Swords Manga

In theFour Swords manga byAkira Himekawa, Shadow Link was drawn from theDark Mirror byGanon to act out his wishes. Shadow Link is a twisted version of Link, born from his own shadow, and is a cruel, malevolent and calculating character. He first appears after causing theShrine Maidens to vanish, and proclaims himself to be "the hero, Link". Completely avoiding Link's attack, he immediately kidnaps Zelda and sends Link to theFour Sword Sanctuary, from which he observes as Link awakensVaati. His next move is to lead Vaati's troops to attackHyrule Castle and send all theKnights of Hyrule to theDark World. There, he confronts the fourLinks, revealing himself to be much stronger than they are with their tainted blades, and striking them down withSword Beams. They are saved by the Blue Maiden, who releases aFairy to shine light upon him, stunning him long enough for them to escape.

Shadow Link continues to plot, hidden away from the light. As he cannot go out in daylight, he works with Vaati's minions to thwart the progress of the four Links. Using dark magic, he manages to split the four Links apart by sending them to four different lands of Hyrule, thus weakening the strength of theFour Sword. Then, confronting Vio, he attempts to coerce him into joining the side of darkness by appealing to his intelligence. Working with Vio, he traps Red and Blue in theTemple of Darkness, and allows Vio to be placed in charge of theTower of Flames onDeath Mountain. Vio even appears to kill Green in battle, totally convincing Shadow Link that he has turned to the side of evil.

However, Vio is simply putting on a show to gain his trust. Once inside, he learns about Ganon and his potential weakness, and the existence of the Dark Mirror, the source of darkness from which Shadow Link was originally summoned. He also learns that Shadow Link does not desire to follow Ganon, and in fact wishes to rule over Hyrule alongside Vio. Shadow Link simply hates humans and the world for spurning him as "just a shadow". However, after Vio is foiled in an attempt to shatter the mirror, Shadow Link discovers his betrayal and attempts to execute him in by dropping him into the lava of Death Mountain. Saved at the last minute by the three other Links, they confront Shadow Link, and with their new-found strength, destroy him with a combined Sword Beam attack.

Shadow Link is not killed, however, and is pulled by Ganon from the mirror again, dripping and shivering as he tries to resist entering the light. Seeing him in this state,Princess Zelda takes pity upon him. He attempts to spurn her but is momentarily moved by her words as she states that he should not fear the light, as he too is a hero. Driven by a desire to save her from the Dark Cloud, he disguises himself as Vio and aids the three other Links in their battle againstVaati. Realizing that the demon cannot be killed by the Four Sword alone however, he returns to the Dark Mirror, and in an act of self sacrifice he shatters it, destroying both Vaati and himself in the process. Before he vanishes, the four Links thank him, and tell him he will always be a part of them. Shadow Link makes a final appearance on the penultimate page of the manga, appearing as Link's shadow and giving a thumb's up.

Cadence of Hyrule

Non-Canon Information

The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.

Shadow Links appear as Minibosses inCadence of Hyrule. Shadow Link is also added as a playable character in theCharacter PackDownloadable Content pack.

Trivia

Shadow Link's theme music inFour Swords Adventures is a remix of the Kakariko Village Soldiers theme fromA Link to the Past.
Shadow Link's voice inFour Swords Adventures is Link's voice pitched up by around 45% percent, or about +6.43 semitones.^{[citation needed]}
Shadow Link's theme music inA Link Between Worlds andTri Force Heroes are remixes of the Palace theme and theLink's Shadow Battle theme, respectively, fromThe Adventure of Link.
Shadow Link inA Link Between Worlds is tied withGramps for the highest damage output of any vulnerableEnemy in the series. InHero Mode, he is able to deal 32Hearts of damage with a single use of thePurple Potion.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Regions
Language	Names	Meanings
Japanese	シャドウリンク (Shadō Rinku)^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) \|ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[7]	Shadow Link
Chinese^{TRTraditional}	暗影林克 (Ànyǐng Línkè)^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch))}
Dutch	Shadow Link^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[8]
French^EUEuropean	Link noir^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds \|CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[9]^[10]	Dark Link
French^CACanadian	Link noir^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) \|ALBWA Link Between Worlds \|CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[11]^[12]^[13]	Dark LinkEditor warning: Conflicting meanings in data
German	Schatten-Link^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds \|CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[14]^[15]
Italian	Link ombra^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch))} Link Ombra^{(FSAFour Swords Adventures \|ALBWA Link Between Worlds \|CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[16]^[17]^[18]	Shadow Link Same as English.
Korean	섀도 링크 (Syaedo Lingkeu)^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) \|ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[19]	Shadow Link
Portuguese^EUEuropean	Shadow Link^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[20] Link fantasma^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[21]
Russian	Shadow Link^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[22] Тень Линка (Ten' Linka)^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[21]	Link's Shadow
Spanish^{LALatin American}	Link tenebroso^{(LANSLink's Awakening (Nintendo Switch))} Link Oscuro^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[23]
Spanish^EUEuropean	Link Tenebroso^{(ALBWA Link Between Worlds)}^[24] Link tenebroso^{(CoHCadence of Hyrule)}^[25]
This table was generated from Zelda Wiki'stranslation data.

Gallery

Link's Awakening for Nintendo Switch
The +Shadow Link Effect
A Link Between Worlds
Shadow Link standing at the front gate to Lorule Castle
A Link Between Worlds
Shadow Link waiting by the Witch's House
Tri Force Heroes
The Shadow Links
Four Swords (Himekawa)
Shadow Link
Cadence of Hyrule
Shadow Link artwork
Cadence of Hyrule
Shadow Link sprite

References

↑^1.0^1.1^1.2Shadow Link
Demons identical to Link that are born of the Dark Mirror and possess the power of darkness. The resentment and evil thoughts of the defeated Ganondorf travel across time and space, emerging as shadows in the shape of the Hero. The ones that appear in the Elemental Sanctuary set a trap aimed at getting Link to break Ganondorf's seal. (Hyrule Historia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 119)
↑^2.0^2.1That mirror reveals the wickedness within a person and brings it to life. It's an item of terrible, dark power. No good can come from this. Shadow Link!! Could he be your evil reflection, cast by the Dark Mirror? — White Maiden (Four Swords Adventures)
↑Shadow Link can use most weapons and items. He is similar toLink, but hisspin attack can draw enemies toward him while it is charging. — Switch Character (Cadence of Hyrule)
↑Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 202^{(FSAFour Swords Adventures |ALBWA Link Between Worlds |TFHTri Force Heroes)}
↑Defeated By: Shadow Link — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule)
↑ 任天堂ホームページ,「amiibo リンク【夢をみる島】」を使うと… , YouTube (Video), published June 11, 2019, retrieved June 18, 2019.
↑すれちがった相手のリンクは「シャドウリンク」として、どこかに現れます。 (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Praat met een Shadow Link-personage en je zult hem kunnen uitdagen tot een gevecht! (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Parlez à un Link noir et mettez-le au défi ! (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Défaite causée par : Link noir — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule, European French version)
↑Vous avez obtenu laplaquette Link noir ! Elle permet de faire apparaître Link noir dans les donjons ! — N/A (Link's Awakening for Nintendo Switch)
↑Parlez à un Link noir et mettez-le au défi! (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Défaite causée par : Link noir — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule, Canadian French version)
↑Sprich mit einem Schatten-Link-Charakter und du kannst ihn herausfordern! (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Besiegt von: Schatten-Link — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule, German version)
↑Quell'ombra scura invece... ChiamiamolaLink Ombra. — Kaepora Gaebora (Four Swords Adventures, Italian version)
↑Parla con un Link Ombra e potrai sfidarlo! (A Link Between Worlds Italian manual, pg. 11)
↑Causa della sconfitta: Link Ombra — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule, Italian version)
↑엇갈린 상대방의 링크는 「섀도 링크」로 어딘가에 나타나며, 이 섀도 링크에게 말을 걸면 배틀을 할 수 있습니다. (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Serão trocados dados de Shadow Link (Link fantasma) se encontrar outros jogadores que tembém tenham ativado o StreetPass para esta aplicação nas suas consolas. (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑^21.0^21.1A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11
↑Данные других игроков появятся где-то в вашей игре в виде особого персонажа — Shadow Link (тень Линка). (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Habla con un Link Oscuro y podrás desafiarlo a un combate. (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑Habla con un Link Tenebroso y podrás desafiarlo a un combate. (A Link Between Worlds manual, pg. 11)
↑¡Fin de la partida! Causa: Link tenebroso — Game Over (Cadence of Hyrule, European Spanish version)