Link (The Legend of Zelda)

Link is the hero of the Legend Of Zelda series, his archenemy is Ganondorf, whom keeps trying to take over Hyrule. A peculiarity of Link is the several different incarnations of the character throughout the Legend of Zelda series. All incarnations of Link share a number of characteristics, the most common of which are his physical appearance and sense of bravery and selflessness. He is implied to be somewhat sleepy or lazy since at the beginning of every game except the first two, he is sleeping or dozing off. Since Link does not have extensive dialogue, clues to his personality come from his actions and other characters' comments about him.

Link's physical characteristics fluctuate from game to game, though he usually has light-colored hair (ranging from brown to blonde to orange), blue eyes, and a medium build.

Skyward Sword
Link is the hero chosen by the goddess Hylia to perform a great task. A resident of Skyloft, he attends the Knight Academy, a boarding school for those wanting to become Knights of Skyloft. Like all denizens of The Sky, he owns his own Loftwing; in particular, he owns a rare Crimson Loftwing. At the beginning of the game, Link wears clothes similar to those worn by other residents of Skyloft. This incarnation of Link is the earliest known appearance of the character in the timeline, and due to the gameplay, which is designed for right-handed use, this Link is right-handed as well.

Link is close friends with Zelda, daughter of the academy Headmaster, Gaepora. A rival of Zelda's affections is Groose, who attempts to sabotage his chances of entering and completing the Wing Ceremony at the beginning of the game by kidnapping his Loftwing. He eventually regains his mount and recovers the Bird Statuette, earning him a moment alone with Zelda. After he receives her Sailcloth, the two embark on a flight together; however, they are attacked by a fell black tornado, and Zelda is taken away to a land below the clouds.

Link is thrown from his Loftwing, and a mysterious blue figure appears in his dreams. When he awakens, he finds Gaepora standing before him, wanting to know what happened to Zelda. After Gaepora leaves, he hears a voice outside his door. Seeing the mysterious figure in the hallway, Link follows her to the Statue of the Goddess, where she opens the door to a chamber found inside the statue. Here, he finds the Goddess Sword, and the figure reveals herself to be Fi, the spirit inhabiting the sword. Using the sword to open a path through the Cloud Barrier, Link begins his search for Zelda on The Surface.

Several times throughout his quest, he is confronted by Ghirahim, Demon Lord of the creatures inhabiting The Surface. Link eventually finds out that Zelda is on a journey of her own to purify her spirit, protected by the Sheikah Impa. Eventually, Zelda and Impa seek refuge within a Gate of Time to elude Ghirahim's grasp. An Old Woman reveals to Link that a second Gate of Time exists; however, to activate it, he must infuse the Goddess Sword with three Sacred Flames. For each Sacred Flame he gathers, the sword transforms, until it becomes the Master Sword.

With the Master Sword in hand, he activates the Gate of Time, where he is reunited with Zelda. She explains to him that she is a physical reincarnation of the goddess Hylia; she assumed a human form in order to combat Demise, the ancient Demon King whose beast-like form Link sealed away earlier with the help of a reformed Groose. The only way they can defeat the eternal Demise is to collect the Triforce and wish for his destruction. Link eventually recovers the Triforce, preventing Demise from re-emerging. However, Zelda is taken away by Ghirahim into the past, for there his master still exists.

Ghirahim is able to use her body to resurrect Demise; though Demise is ultimately defeated, the Demon King promises to return to plague their descendants in another form. Zelda, Link and Groose return to their own time, where the Old Woman is revealed to have been Impa all along. Groose returns to the sky, whereas Zelda and Link remain on The Surface.

Minish Cap
Link is the grandson of Smith, the blacksmith for Hyrule Town. He lives just outside the town with his grandfather, and goes to the Picori Festival with his childhood friend, Princess Zelda. During the award ceremony for the festival's sword tournament, the winner, Vaati, shatters the legendary Picori Blade and releases the monsters that had been sealed in the Bound Chest. Princess Zelda uses her power to send the monsters away, and despite Link's attempt to defend her, Vaati turns the princess to stone to prevent her from interfering with his plans.

Afterward, the King of Hyrule sends Link to Minish Woods to find the Minish, in the hopes that they can reforge the broken Picori Blade so that it can be used against Vaati, the Wind Mage. As he travels though the woods, Link meets Ezlo, his companion throughout the game. Ezlo sits on Link's head throughout his adventure to defeat Vaati and restore Zelda. Aside from his frequent advice and sarcastic comments about Link's quest, Ezlo grants the hero the power to shrink down to Minish size.

Chronologically, The Minish Cap is the prequel to Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. Like the incarnation in Four Swords Adventures, this Link has almost the exact same character design as the Link from The Wind Waker, other than his hat. This game is speculated to be one of the earliest games in the timeline by some fans, as the introduction mentions a Hero of Men who is depicted like Link but with no hat. At the end of this game Link acquires a real green hat, as he only had Ezlo as a hat before. Ezlo then said that the hat suited him.

Four Swords
At the outset of the game, Link travels with Princess Zelda to check on the Four Sword, an ancient blade said to seal Vaati, a powerful wind mage. As the two enter the Four Sword Sanctuary, Vaati breaks his seal, absconding with Zelda in order to make her his bride. As Link comes to, he is instructed by three Fairies to draw the Four Sword, which splits the hero into four copies of himself: One green, one red, one blue, and one purple. Together, the four Links journey across Hyrule to meet three Great Fairies, each of whom gives the Links a key necessary to enter Vaati's Palace. Inside, the four Links defeat Vaati after a fierce battle, sealing him inside the Four Sword once more. With Hyrule saved, the four heroes return the Four Sword to its pedestal, thus merging back into one being.

Ocarina of Time
Link is born during the Hyrulean Civil War, and is left in Kokiri Forest by his dying mother in an attempt to spare him from the widespread violence. From then on, Link is fostered by the Great Deku Tree, who raises the Hylian child as a Kokiri so that he will fit in with his peers. However, as Link does not possess a Fairy like other Kokiri, he is always something of an outsider, especially in the eyes of Mido, the self-appointed "Boss of the Kokiri".

When Link is a child, the Gerudo King Ganondorf places a curse on the Great Deku Tree in retaliation for the guardian's refusal to hand over the Spiritual Stone of Forest. The Great Deku Tree sends the Fairy Navi to Link, who serves as the boy's Fairy companion for the duration of the game. With Navi's guidance, Link acquires a sword and shield and defeats Queen Gohma, a parasitic monster placed inside the Great Deku Tree by Ganondorf. His health sapped by Ganondorf's curse, the Great Deku Tree bestows the Spiritual Stone upon Link before his death, bequeathing the boy to travel to Hyrule Castle and speak with Princess Zelda. Upon exiting the forest, Link's childhood friend Saria gives him the Fairy Ocarina, with which he can play the various songs he learns on his journeys. Upon reaching Princess Zelda inside Hyrule Castle, the princess tells Link about Ganondorf's malicious plans to take over Hyrule, and tasks Link with finding the Spiritual Stones of Fire and Water.

Link retrieves the two remaining Spiritual Stones, aiding the Goron and Zora peoples who guard them in the process, and sets off for Hyrule Castle Town to place them in the Temple of Time. Just outside the town, he encounters Zelda and Impa as they flee from Ganondorf, who has seized Hyrule Castle. Zelda manages to toss Link the Ocarina of Time as she flees, which he uses in conjunction with the three Spiritual Stones and "Song of Time" to open the Door of Time, revealing the Master Sword, which he pulls from the Pedestal of Time. Upon doing so, however, Link is sealed inside the Sacred Realm for seven years, as in his current form he is not judged capable of saving Hyrule as the Hero of Time.

Link awakens to find he is seventeen, having aged seven years in the safety of the Temple of Light inside the Sacred Realm, while Ganondorf has touched the Triforce and extended his reign over all of Hyrule. Rauru, the Sage of Light, informs Link of the conquest of Hyrule, and instructs him to find the other five sages. Link traverses five temples in order to rescue the sages and awaken the power within them. They are Saria, the Sage of Forest; Darunia, the Sage of Fire; Princess Ruto, the Sage of Water; Impa, the Sage of Shadow; and Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit. With these five sages awakened, Princess Zelda reveals herself to Link as the seventh sage, only to be captured by Ganondorf. Aided by the power of the remaining sages, Link is able to enter Ganon's Castle and navigate its depths. He defeats both the King of Evil's Gerudo form and his monstrous Ganon transformation, freeing Hyrule and Princess Zelda. The princess then sends Link back in time to regain his lost seven years.

Childhood Timeline
The Child Timeline is the timeline that follows Link after being sent back to his original time after defeating Ganon in the Adult Timeline. He warns Princess Zelda about Ganon's actions in the Adult Timeline, which creates the timeline containing Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords Adventures.

Majora's Mask
Having been returned to his childhood by Princess Zelda at the end of Ocarina of Time, Link goes on a search for a "beloved and invaluable friend", implied to be the fairy Navi. While traveling deep inside the Lost Woods, Link is ambushed by the Skull Kid and his two friends, the Fairy siblings Tatl and Tael. The Skull Kid makes off with Link's Ocarina of Time, and in the subsequent chase, Link is transported into the parallel world of Termina, where the Skull Kid uses his magic to turn Link into a Deku Scrub. During this process, Tatl becomes separated from the Skull Kid and Tael, and joins Link in order to find them, becoming his Fairy companion for the remainder of the game.

In the caves beneath Termina, Link meets the mysterious Happy Mask Salesman, who agrees to return Link to his normal shape if Link returns Majora's Mask to him, an artifact of ancient power that was stolen by the Skull Kid. As Link embarks on this quest, he learns little by little of the looming catastrophe threatening the land: the Moon in the sky has assumed a horrible, evil face and has abandoned its orbit, and will collide with Termina in exactly three days. Link's quest to restore himself quickly becomes a quest to save the land, during which he not only returns to his original form, but acquires masks enabling him to freely transform between his Hylian, Deku, Goron, and Zora forms.

Eventually, Link succeeds in freeing the Four Giants, enigmatic deities who can halt the Moon's descent, and confronts the Skull Kid. At this point, Majora, the evil entity residing inside Majora's Mask, abandons its now useless host and retreats into the Moon. Link chases after it into the strange core of the Moon, and after a long and heated battle against the three incarnations of Majora, the entity is finally defeated and the menacing Moon disappears. Upon returning the now lifeless mask to the Happy Mask Salesman, Link leaves his new friends and continues his journey, while the people of Termina once more celebrate the dawn of a new day. During the celebration, a Zora identical to Link's Zora form is seen performing with The Indigo-Go's, implying that Link may have returned to the carnival temporarily, though this is never clarified.

Twilight Princess
Link is a rancher in Ordon Village who is around 17 years old. He has a Triforce shaped birthmark on his hand, strongly implying that he currently possesses the Triforce of Courage, though possibly it is merely there as a mark of a Chosen Hero. One day, Rusl, the town's only warrior and swordsmith, requests Link to be his proxy for a trip to Hyrule to deliver the Ordon Sword and Ordon Shield which the Royal Family ordered. As he prepares to leave, King Bulblin and his forces attack, knocking out Link and kidnapping his friends Ilia and Colin, along with the other children. After regaining consciousness, Link is drawn into the Faron Province, which has become blanketed with Twilight. The Twilight morphs Link into a wolf. He is imprisoned by Shadow Beasts, but escapes with the help of Midna.

Later, Link delivers Light back to the Faron Province, with the help of Midna, and awakens as the Chosen Hero, now donning Link's trademark green clothing. Link and Midna venture to collect the Fused Shadows, which can be used to defeat Zant, the king of the Twilight Realm, who covered Hyrule in Twilight, and also defeated the true power behind Zant: Ganondorf, shortly thereafter. Afterwards, he and Zelda witnessed Midna's departure to the Twilight Realm, as well as her destruction of the Twilit Mirror in order to ensure the tragedy never repeated itself. It is said in the Twilight Princess manual that this Link later becomes chief of Ordon village, but this was never seen in the game itself. This Link is often referred to by fans as the "Hero of Light" because of his acts to restore the Light to Hyrule; however, there are those who refer to him instead as the "Hero of Twilight". Both are fan made titles that do not appear in any official material, although his true title in this game is "Hero Chosen by the Gods".

Throughout his adventure, he was trained by the Hero's Shade in the combat styles of the hero. After his training was complete, the Shade addresses him as his child, hinting that Link in this game may be his descendant or spiritual successor. According to Hyrule Historia, the Hero's Shade is a manifestation of the Hero of Time's regrets.

Four Swords Adventures
The Link in this game may or may not be different from the Link seen in Four Swords. Link is friends with Princess Zelda. Concerned that the seal which keeps Vaati in the Four Sword may be weakening, Zelda and the rest of the Seven Maidens summon Link and open the way to the shrine of the Four Sword to investigate. However, Zelda and the other maidens are captured and imprisoned by Shadow Link. Despite the fact that it will release Vaati, Link is forced to draw the Four Sword from its pedestal in order to split himself into four and have the strength to go and rescue the maidens. The Links save all seven of them and collect the four Royal Jewels, which they use to reveal the Tower of Winds. Climbing the tower, the Links reach the Realm of the Heavens, where they defeat the Shadow Links and reclaims the Dark Mirror from which they were created. After another furious battle, the Links defeat Vaati, not sealing him as before, but apparently slaying the wind mage for good. Afterward, Ganon, the true mastermind behind all the events, attacks Zelda and the Links personally. The final battle ensues; the Links are able to defeat Ganon, and with the help of the Seven Maidens, seal him within the Four Sword. The sword is then returned to its sanctuary and sealed there, and the Links are combined into one again.

Adulthood Timeline
The Adult Timeline is the timeline that follows Link being sent to the Child Timeline after the Hero of Time defeats Ganon in the final battle. Ganondorf is sealed within the Sacred Realm by the Seven Sages but, with Link sent back in time, the world is left without a Hero. This turn of events created the timeline containing The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.

Wind Waker
This Link lives on Outset Island on the Great Sea, the region above Hyrule after it was flooded by the gods to prevent Ganondorf from conquering it. Link is celebrating his birthday, and it is customary on the island for one to receive the Hero's Clothes to honor the legendary Hero of Time when they reach the age the Hero was during his quest. Since the Hero of Time was approximately sixteen years old when he defeated Ganondorf, it is possible that Link is also this age, but based on his physical appearance and voice, however, it seems more likely that this custom refers to when the Hero of Time started his quest, at the age of approximately nine. Shortly after this, the Helmaroc King captures Link's sister, Aryll, prompting Link to travel with Tetra and her pirates to the Forsaken Fortress. Link initially fails to rescue Aryll, but is rescued by the King of Red Lions, who helps him in his quest to save his sister. Link is eventually successful, and is also able to defeat Ganondorf after retrieving the Master Sword and restoring its power. With this quest complete, Link, Tetra, and her pirate crew set sail in search of a new land.

Although the game inspires speculation about Link's possible relation to the Hero of Time (namely, his family shield which was rumored to be used by the Hero himself'), this theory is discouraged by the King of Red Lions, who is in fact the King of Hyrule, when he tells the sea spirit Jabun that "[Link] appears to have no connection to the legendary one." After Link overcomes many hardships, the King of Red Lions names him the Hero of Winds, and Ganondorf declares Link to be the Hero of Time reborn.

Phantom Hourglass
This Link is the same Link from The Wind Waker. After the ending of The Wind Waker, Link and Tetra set off to find the land that would be the next Hyrule after the former kingdom had been completely destroyed. After Tetra is captured by the Ghost Ship, Link makes a bold effort to save her, but is knocked out. When he wakes up, he meets a Fairy named Ciela, who becomes his companion for the rest of the game. He also meets Linebeck, who helps him by letting him use his ship. Link acquires a new sword, Oshus's Sword, which Oshus lets him have.

Link finds three spirits which allow him to find the Ghost Ship, where Tetra is being held. He saves her, but finds she is made of stone, due to her life force being drained. To undo this, Link must defeat Bellum, an evil being inhabiting the Temple of the Ocean King. To defeat it, Link needs the Phantom Sword, a weapon made of the three Pure Metals. After Link finds these metals, Zauz forges the Phantom Sword's blade, and Oshus creates the handle out of the Phantom Hourglass. With the Phantom Sword in hand, Link defeats Bellum and restores peace. It is revealed that the world Link explored was an alternate dimension, and Link and Tetra are sent back to their own realm. During the whole adventure, only ten minutes passed in Link and Tetra's world, and it at first seems as if the whole experience was a dream. However, Link finds an empty hourglass in his pocket, and sees Linebeck sailing away in the distance.

Spirit Tracks
Link is originally an apprentice engineer, who becomes a hero by saving the land of New Hyrule from the evil of Malladus. Throughout his adventure, he works together with the spirit of Princess Zelda, who inhabits a Phantom form in certain situations. His appearance is similar to that of the Link from Phantom Hourglass, however, his voice is now similar to that of the younger Link from Ocarina of Time.

The game opens as Link, an apprentice railroad engineer, travels to the castle of Princess Zelda to attend a Graduation Ceremony, where the honor of Royal Engineer will be bestowed upon him by the princess herself. As she rewards Link for his service, she slips him a note, warning of the suspicious Chancellor Cole, and to take a hidden path and meet her in secret. She requests Link's help in investigating the mystery of the vanishing Spirit Tracks. Zelda is restricted to her quarters, but needs Link's help sneaking out of the castle to figure out why the Spirit Tracks are mysteriously disappearing all over the land. Zelda then presents Link with a change of clothing—the Recruit Uniform—which will help Link blend in and trick the similarly dressed guards.

After their success, the two finally make it out of the castle and bump into Alfonzo, Link's Master Engineer, who taught him how to become an engineer. As Alfonzo was once a soldier, he helps Zelda and Link escape on a train towards the Tower of Spirits. However, the tracks begin to vanish from underneath the vehicle. After a spectacular crash they are stopped halfway by Chancellor Cole and his second-in-command. The pair easily defeat Link and Alfonzo, and go on to murder Princess Zelda. Chancellor Cole then takes Zelda's lifeless body and uses it as a vessel in an attempt to revive Malladus.

When Link awakens, he finds himself in Hyrule Castle. Zelda's spirit floats in, and Zelda learns she is dead and that no one can see her but Link and a few Lokomos. Zelda then leads Link to a sword. After a bit of training she then directs Link to head to the Tower of Spirits where she might be brought back to life. To help Link, Princess Zelda's ghost inhabits a Phantom and aids Link in stopping Chancellor Cole and reviving herself.

Downfall Timeline
The Downfall Timeline is the alternate timeline in which Link, the Hero of Time, despite his best efforts, was defeated by Ganondorf in the final battle. This turn of events created the timeline containing A Link to the Past, the Oracle series, Link's Awakening, A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda, and The Adventure of Link.

A Link To The Past
Link lives with his uncle in a house near Hyrule Castle. One night, Link receives a telepathic message from Princess Zelda in his sleep; the princess claims to be locked in the dungeons of the castle. Link awakens to find his uncle preparing to come to Zelda's aid, and is told to remain in his bed. After his uncle's departure, however, Link ignores his command and follows after him to Hyrule Castle. Following further advice from Princess Zelda, Link finds a hidden entrance leading inside the castle; inside a passageway, he finds his uncle, who has been mortally injured in battle. In his final moments, Link's uncle asks Link to save Zelda from her prison, giving him a sword and shield, as well as teaching him the Spin Attack, before he passes. Link navigates the castle and rescues Zelda from her cell, and the two make their escape through a secret passage connecting the castle sewers to the Sanctuary.

The Loyal Sage residing in the Sanctuary tells Link of Agahnim, an evil wizard who has usurped the throne, and plans to break a seal made hundreds of years ago by Seven Wise Men. The seal was placed to imprison Ganon, King of Thieves, in the Dark World, which was once the Sacred Realm before Ganon invaded, obtained the legendary Triforce, and used its power to turn the realm into a land of darkness. Agahnim intends to break the seal by sending the Seven Maidens, the descendants of the Seven Wise Men who made the seal, into the Dark World, allowing Ganon to break free and complete his plan to rule both worlds. The only thing that can defeat Agahnim is the Master Sword, a sword forged to combat evil. To prove he is worthy of wielding it, Link needs the three Pendants of Virtue.

With the aid of Sahasrahla, elder of Kakariko Village, Link is able to retrieve all three pendants, and takes them to the resting place of the Master Sword and is able to draw it from its pedestal. Upon obtaining the blade, Sahasrahla contacts him and tells him to go to Hyrule Castle and use the sword's power to break the barrier placed around the castle tower that serves as Agahnim's stronghold. On the way to the castle, Link is contacted by Zelda again, who tells him that Hyrule Guards have attacked the Sanctuary. Link arrives at the Sanctuary moments after the soldiers have vacated, where he learns from the dying sage that Zelda has been taken to the Hyrule Castle Tower. Link goes to rescue her, but he arrives too late to stop Agahnim from sending Zelda to the Dark World. After Agahnim is defeated in the ensuing battle, he sends Link to the Dark World as well.

To stop Ganon and save Hyrule, Link must rescue the Seven Maidens from dungeons scattered across the Dark World. Once the Seven Maidens are freed, they use their power to break the barrier around Ganon's Tower, where Link faces Agahnim again. After the hero defeats Agahnim for a second time, Ganon rises up from Agahnim's body, turns into a bat, and flies away. Link chases him, finally confronting him inside the Pyramid in the Dark World. After a battle resulting in Ganon's demise, Link touches the Triforce, and wishes for Hyrule to be restored to its former state. With peace restored to the land and his uncle restored to life, Link returns the Master Sword to its resting place in the Lost Woods.

Oracle Ages and Oracle of Seasons
Link is already a hero at the beginning of these games, as he is the same Link from A Link to the Past according to Hyrule Historia. The two Oracle games begin very similarly, with Link traveling to the shrine of the Triforce. Inside, the sacred relic transports him to a world in desperate need of a hero: Labrynna in Oracle of Ages, and Holodrum in Oracle of Seasons. Link meets and befriends Nayru the singer in the former, and Din the dancer in the latter.

In Labrynna, Link must use his ability to travel back and forth in time via the Harp of Ages to save the land from the clutches of the Sorceress of Shadow, Veran. In Holodrum, he must use the season-changing powers of the Rod of Seasons to end the ambitions of the General of Darkness, Onox. After completing one game, starting a linked game using a password from the first, and completing it, a secret final quest can be accessed in which it is revealed that Koume and Kotake were behind the exploits of both Veran and Onox, planning to use their actions as a catalyst to revive Ganon. After defeating both the witches and the resurrected Ganon himself, Link sets sail to an unknown destination.

Link's Awakening
Link's Awakening is the first game to take place outside of Hyrule and the main storyline involving the Triforce and Ganon. Link is traveling aboard a ship, across the ocean toward destinations unknown, when a fierce storm sets in, leaving him shipwrecked. The hero awakens in the house of his rescuer, a young girl named Marin, whom he initially mistakes for Princess Zelda. Marin explains to Link that he has been marooned on Koholint Island. Link is given his shield by Marin's father, Tarin, and proceeds to retrieve his sword from the beach where he washed ashore. An owl then appears, telling Link about the dangers of the isle and instructing him to search for the eight Instruments of the Sirens, which will allow Link to wake the enigmatic Wind Fish and leave the island. The instruments are contained in the island's eight dungeons and are guarded by Nightmares, evil beings who seek to prevent the awakening of the Wind Fish.

On his quest to retrieve the instruments, Link explores the entire island, through forest, desert, and mountains, receiving aid from the Owl along the way. Furthermore, Marin joins Link in his quest for a time, and they develop an implied romantic relationship. In an eastern shrine, Link uncovers a mural on which is written the truth of Koholint Island: the island and all its inhabitants are but a dream of the Wind Fish, and should it be awakened, they will cease to exist. To continue the Wind Fish's slumber and thus establish control over Koholint Island indefinitely, the Nightmares begin attempting to dissuade Link from awakening the deity by telling him that since he, too, is in the dream, he will also be erased from existence if the Wind Fish wakes.

After collecting all eight Instruments of the Sirens, Link stands before the Wind Fish's Egg on Mt. Tamaranch, and plays the "Ballad of the Wind Fish", which he had learned from Marin, on his Ocarina. Inside the egg, Link does battle with the many forms of DethI, the leader of the Nightmares. Upon defeating his foe, Link is thanked by the Owl and greeted by the Wind Fish, who bids him plays the "Ballad of the Wind Fish" once more. Doing so ends the dream of Koholint, causing the island and all its inhabitants to disappear. Link awakens clinging to a piece of his wrecked ship in the middle of the ocean, and smiles as he sees the Wind Fish fly overhead.

Hyrule Historia states the Link in this adventure is the same Link from A Link to the Past and the Oracle series. While the Japanese website for Link's Awakening states that it is the sequel to A Link to the Past, in the ending of the Oracle games Link is seen leaving on a ship similar to the one he begins on in Link's Awakening, making this a possible retcon of the timeline, or it's possible that the Oracle games take place between "A Link to the Past" and "Link's Awakening". The manual of Link's Awakening states that Link had recently defeated Ganon, though this occurs in many games, including both A Link to the Past and a linked Oracle game.

A Link Between Worlds
Link is a Blacksmith's apprentice who experiences frequent nightmares, which often cause him to be late for work. In his dreams, he sees Princess Zelda being snatched away by a pig-shaped creature. He is asked to deliver the Forgotten Sword to the Captain, who is at the Sanctuary visiting the Priest and Seres. As Link approaches the Sanctuary, however, he encounters Yuga, who has defeated the Captain and transformed Seres, revealed to be a Sage, into a portrait. After informing Princess Zelda of the encounter, he is tasked with protecting the remaining Sages.

The Legend of Zelda
Link is a hero summoned by Impa, the royal nursemaid, to save Princess Zelda from the evil Prince of Darkness, Gannon, who is seeking out the shards of the Triforce of Wisdom. Link finds the pieces before Gannon does, and in the end, destroys the villain with a Silver Arrow, saving Zelda. Link's character and background are given little explanation in the game, although the prologue describes him as "burning with a sense of justice."

The Adventure of Link
Being a sequel set not long after the original game, The Adventure of Link features the same Link as The Legend of Zelda. Link is now fifteen years old, approaching his sixteenth birthday. Although Ganon has been killed, his army of monsters remains active throughout Hyrule. They plan to revive Ganon by spilling the blood of his murderer, Link, onto his ashes. Impa finds a Triforce mark on Link's hand as he approaches his sixteenth birthday, and explains that he is the hero chosen to awaken an ancient Princess Zelda from her sleeping curse by seeking out the Triforce of Courage. Link places a crystal in each of Hyrule's six palaces, ultimately kills Dark Link, receives the Triforce of Courage, and awakens Princess Zelda.