Say what you will about Zelda’s first entry on the DS, Phantom Hourglass does have the distinct pleasure of introducing us to the most rapscallion of the series’ companions: Captain Linebeck. Channeling his best Jack Sparrow impression and mixing it with a pinch of Han Solo’s only-in-it-for-the-money attitude, Linebeck quickly became a fan favorite. The journey of his character from greedy buccaneer to courageous captain willing to sacrifice himself for Link is an interesting one worth playing the game for. In this art titled “Where’s the treasure, Link?” by YokaiOni, they take us to a pitstop along that journey, showing us a time when Linebeck’s greed got the better of him.
The largest figure in the piece of art is the aforementioned troublemaker, Captain Linebeck. Even without the word balloon exclaiming, “Where is my treasure?”, YokaiOni gives us everything we need to know that Linebeck’s furious. His downcast eyes are framed by both his angry eyebrows and the bags betraying the many sleepless nights his dreams of treasure have given him. His mouth is filled with a toothy fury as he grasps Link by his emerald tunic, ready to give the hero a good thrashing if some treasure isn’t found post haste.
The toon hero hangs limp from Linebeck’s grasp. His eyes are simple swirls and his mouth hangs open, showing how dazed he is at the captain’s fury. Perhaps my favorite part of this whole piece by YokaiOni is found when looking at Link’s body. I love how YokaiOni conveys the ragdoll movement of Link’s body through the use of multiple, muted images of the hero’s hat, arms, and legs. I can imagine his body flopping around in the greedy grasp of Captain Linebeck as there is once again none of the treasure promised for the pirate’s aid.
Another aspect of this art that I love is the fairy Ciela’s reaction to the scuffle. The simple punctuation shows both her surprise at their salty colleague’s fury as well as her own anger. No one messes with her Link! If we got to see the moments following this, I’d imagine we’d see the winged companion dive bombing the pirate in defense of her hero. YokaiOni does a fantastic job capturing this moment of conflict between the heroic trio of Phantom Hourglass. It brings a smile to fans’ faces as we chuckle at Linebeck’s fury and Link’s flailing limbs captured so perfectly. This may not be Linebeck’s finest moment, but it is definitely one of those golden moments that captures an aspect of his personality so well.
