Twilight Princess is my favorite Zelda game, and there are many reasons for it. To me, it has the most well-written story, some of the greatest unit designs, and many memorable characters; among them being our hero himself, Link
I won’t dwell too much on his time before he officially becomes the “hero chosen by the gods” as I could write an entire article on just that alone, but it’s important to recognize his humble beginnings. He starts as a simple farmer; no more, no less. However, his neighbors have all seen his kindness and think fondly of him. So much so that, as it states in the games manual, Mayor Bo planned to let him lead the village when he retired. To put it simply, Link has gained the trust of the Ordonians and is loved for his good will.
Link’s true journey begins when the children of Ordon and his best friend, Ilia, have been captured by monsters. Having just evaded capture, he leaves the sanctity of his village to pursue the brutes that took his companions. He only has a wooden sword at the time (along with a slingshot if that counts), but he knows he has to do something. This early on we can already see the courage that Link has through his actions, and we’ll only see it more so as the game progresses.
When he is dragged into the Twilight corrupting the lands of Hyrule, he is transformed into a wolf. I can remember this scene so vividly as I remember clutching my heart, watching Link in such great pain. I know Toon Link was created with expressiveness in mind, but I still stand by my words when I say that I think Twilight Princess Link is just as expressive. You can see the pain and agony he’s going through in this scene. You can see his rage when Colin is taken by King Bulblin in Kakariko; the sorrow when Ilia doesn’t remember who he is; the fear and devastation when it seems that Midna has been destroyed by Ganondorf and then the joy he feels for his dear companion when she is returned to her true form. Even though he doesn’t utter a single word, Link is very easy to understand, which ultimately makes him easier to sympathize and connect with.
I could go on and retell you the entire story of Twilight Princess, but I’d rather just tell you what the Hero of Twilight means to me. Whenever I think back to this Link, the first thing that comes to mind is his kindness and compassion towards others. I love the way he interacts with the children of Ordon, being like an older brother to all of them. He always takes time out of his day to play with them and protects them when danger comes their way. The way he watches them as spirits trapped in the Twilight is
It’s not just them though, as it’s clear that he shows sympathy to others as well. He feels for Midna when she opens herself up to him and goes out of his way to save her when she is near death after an unfortunate encounter with Zant. My favorite scene that displays this nature of his is towards the end of the game, during the final battle with Ganondorf. In the heat of battle, Zelda whisks the two away to another realm for a brief time and asks for Link’s courage. No words are needed as he simply holds out his hand to her and smiles.
While I think this iteration of Link is the most compassionate, he’s also no pushover. From the
One moment that comes to mind is when Link encounters the Hero’s Shade for the first time. He’s knocked down faster than you can blink, and the Hero’s Shade calls him out on his lack of strength. Link is furious. However, he doesn’t lash out and attack again. He sheathes his sword and listens to what the mysterious phantom has to say. He learns from the experience, and because of it, he is able to defeat Ganondorf with the very same attack he learned from this important encounter.
His skill on its own is another thing worth mentioning. I’m going to cause some havoc here by saying this, but I fully believe that Twilight Princess Link is the strongest of all his timeline counterparts — without their strength-enhancing gauntlets or bracelets. Yes, even more than Breath of the Wild Link. Sorry, but strip down all that armor on Wild Link and you’ve just got a
Twilight Link, on the other hand, can handle his own in a sumo wrestling match! Yes, I know, he used the iron boots against the Gorons to weigh him down, but could any of the Link’s beast a Goron in a battle of strength without a handicap? Even so, Mayor Bo isn’t exactly the tiniest fellow and Twilight Link doesn’t get strength enhancements throughout the entire game (just saying). All those times he’s shoving giant metal blocks across rooms, using the Ball and Chain, or tossing rampaging goats out of the way, that’s raw strength.
Alright, I know, I am a bit biased and to give Wild Link some credit, there’s a lot he does better than Twilight Link, but we’ll save that for another day. Regardless, I think that I’m always going to personally feel that the Hero of Twilight is the best Link. I got Twilight Princess when I was in middle school, which is always an awkward time for everyone. His courage inspired me to take a stand when my friend and I got picked on for liking “weird nerd stuff” and to be more active overall. As a writer nowadays, I still take inspiration from his character with my own storybook heroes.
Every Link defines heroism in one way or another, but to me, no Link shines brighter in this realm than the Hero of Twilight. He has every quality a good hero should: k
