What If… The Hero’s Shade Had Been A Different Link?

“A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.” We all know the story by now. The Hyrule Historia confirms what many suspected after playing Twilight Princess: The Hero’s Shade — a mysterious, undead knight who gives Link sage advice while teaching him ancient sword forms — is actually the spirit of Link from Ocarina of Time. This is one of my favorite bits of Zelda lore. The Shade’s identity as the Hero of Time has undertones of a tragic passing, as well as the passing on of a legacy. It’s not often that two different Links get to interact. And thanks to Twilight Princess, we get to see what lessons the Hero of Time chooses to pass on to his descendant.

It got me thinking, though: what wisdom do the other heroes of Hyrule have to offer? What would it be like to see a different version of Link appear as the Hero’s Shade? What if, instead of the Hero of Time, it was the Link from The Minish Cap, or the Link from The Wind Waker? I want to explore how the trajectory of Link’s journey would have changed if he had been visited by a different ancestral mentor. For me, the possibility of another Link becoming the Hero’s Shade raises three main questions: 1) How did he die? 2) What advice would he pass on to his descendant? 3) What skills would this new Hero’s Shade teach Link? I intend to answer these questions below. I’ve also included some phrases I think the Links may tell their pupils. And for this exercise, I propose we ignore timeline placement for maximum creativity and fun.

The Minish Cap

“You can’t truly see unless you shrink down and look at things from someone else’s point of view.”

Skills: This cuddly version of Link actually packs quite a punch, learning a list of deadly Tiger Scroll sword forms from the Blade Brothers. If he were the Hero’s Shade, it would be fun to see him teach Link how to break rocks with his sword, or use the downward aerial strike. Twilight Princess already contains many secret techniques. For example, if you attack directly after a ground roll, Link will perform a powerful roll-stab. This mirrors an iconic move that the Link from Minish Cap learns from the Blade Brothers. Learning this move from the “Minish Shade” would deepen the lore behind the maneuver while including players who may have missed out on the hidden move.

Advice: The main advice I think this Shade would pass down to Link is to look at the world from different perspectives, like he had to when he shrank down to Minish size. The Link from Twilight Princess surely views the world differently after transforming into a wolf, but we never get many details about how he adjusts to this change. The player can infer what a hero would learn from such a drastic transformation, but it would be nice to put an emphasis on the perspective change Link gains from his tribulations. Maybe he gains the ability to pick up pets (like cats and dogs) after he becomes a wolf, showing a new appreciation for animals?

Death: Harkening back to their great relationship in the Minish Cap’s intro, I like to think he grew old with Zelda in Hyrule Castle. He’s less of a haunted ghost trying to make a difference after death, and more of a wise spirit trying to help. He spent his life smoothing over relations between the races and integrating the Minish into society. He has the patience of a man who knows what it’s like for a three-step journey to take a hundred tiny strides. Link from Twilight Princess engages in few side quests, opting to focus on the mission at hand, so I’d like to think that the “Minish Sage” could open up more opportunities for Link to slow down and help his fellow man.

The Wind Waker

“If you let the shadow consume you, you will lose sight of what really matters.”

Skills: While cheery and youthful, the Link from The Wind Waker is no lightweight. He’s a fierce fighter, and he would pass on his ruthless tactics, like using an enemy’s own weapon against itself, or luring enemies into hitting each other. This Link is an incredible champion. As a hero of small stature, it takes immense strength to wield weapons, like the Skull Hammer, that are twice his size. The Link featured in Twilight Princess is a titan, holding back ramming goats and fighting Gorons with the aid of iron boots. Seeing the “Wind Shade” embrace their shared penitent for raw power in his teachings would add another layer of complexity to the brute strength Link displays in Twilight Princess. Perhaps the mortal draw, a maneuver where Link can break any defense with a swift enough expulsion from his sheath, is a result of this might.

Advice: Living in a drowned Hyrule, the Link from The Wind Waker would be happy to see a version of Hyrule like the one featured in Twilight Princess. I think Link learned from the King of Red Lions’ example that the future is more important than his own past. He would focus on what his pupil truly needs. Since the Link from Twilight Princess lives in shadow, maybe he needs a reminder of how bright the world can be. I could also see the Link from The Wind Waker offering an interesting perspective, since he was not chosen by the gods, while the Link from Twilight Princess was. Thoughts on destiny and choices.

Death: This is one of the rare Links who has a sequel. Phantom Hourglass pushes a central Wind Waker character to the side, making Tetra a damsel who is absent from the entire story. I like to think Tetra kept Link from ever settling. After Phantom Hourglass, they stayed together, and she encouraged a life of constant teasing and banter. They sailed the high seas together. Tetra learned to obey the law, and Link learned to break it a little. Through Bellum, we’ve seen how the two get up to trouble even without the threat of Ganon. I have little doubt they would be able to resist confronting the challenges of the world, and after exploring so much of it, it’s almost inevitable they would eventually face a foe they couldn’t defeat. I think, after decades of searching, they both died side-by-side in a heroic battle. The lesson that the Link from Twilight Princess can learn from this is, when you find your person, you’ll be glad to spend the rest of your life with them. Maybe this will inform whether or not he tries to find a way back to Midna after she shatters the Mirror of Twilight.

Skyward Sword

“Although we’re caught in the machinations of higher powers, you can still make a difference.”

Skills: I have always adored the progression of the Link from Skyward Sword. He starts out with typical humble beginnings, and by the end, he’s fighting larger-than-life beasts and facing Demise himself in a duel for the fate of eternity. So, what skills would he pass on? Maybe he could use his knowledge of Fi to teach his pupil how to use the hidden power housed within the Master Sword. I could see the Link from Twilight Princess unlocking abilities like Dousing and Skyward Strikes. With his precision-based swings, I could see the “Skyward Shade” teaching his pupil how to cut arrows out of the air with perfect timing (another hidden mechanic from Twilight Princess that I love).

Advice: In terms of advice, he could pass on the knowledge of ancient power and Demise’s infinite cycle. In an age like Twilight Princess with little-to-no knowledge of the Triforce, this could be valuable information. Link and Zelda have a right to know that they are caught in a cycle of rebirth. Would Link make more of an effort to connect with the princess? Would he better understand the weight of his role as a reincarnation of a past hero? Link rarely has a bold personality in these games, but a Link who knows how the past informs his future could be an interesting direction to go in in a series that’s shrouded in mystery.

Death: We know this “Skyward Shade” sought to discover a new Hyrule. After facing Demise himself in single combat, he learns the death-and-rebirth cycle that is to come. Perhaps he spends the rest of his life trying and failing to prevent that fate for his descendants. I could see him trying to prevent tragedy while ultimately realizing the best way to prevent a sorrowful end for his offspring is to enter their life as a Shade and pass the truth on to them. Maybe he dies with some intent, knowing the only way to truly ease the pain of his descendants is to appear to them as a transcendent ghost.

Adventure of Link

“If you break, for even a second, the enemy will gain the upper hand. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable.”

Skills: Twilight Princess is a game that lacks magic. Anyone who saw the demo images of the game’s back cover knows there was once a magic bar implemented into the adventure, much like in The Wind Waker. The Adventure of Link may be a divisive title, but its emphasis on magic spells makes it unique. What if, instead of sword forms that take inspiration from the combat of The Wind Waker, the Link from Twilight Princess learns spells that were influenced by Zelda II? With a life spell that requires mana, the game could increase in difficulty quite significantly. Anyone who has played in Hero Mode knows that Zelda games always improve with the fewer hearts that are available. Twilight Princess doesn’t have a huge emphasis on fairies compared to earlier games (think of The Wind Waker’s plentiful Great Fairy Islands), so making Link himself transform into a fairy could be very interesting. Another trait from Zelda II that could be beneficial to borrow is the final spell, Thunder. The climactic battle against Zant, while fun, is lacking something. Perhaps a connection with the spells the “Adventure Shade” is sharing could make the fight with Zant more interesting.

Advice: Take it from someone who has spent the past 10+ years writing about Zelda: the early games can be challenging as far as story and character goes. With sparser details and rough translations, it’s always a challenge to interpret the Links from The Legend of Zelda, Adventure of Link, and A Link to the Past. With that said, I think the Link from Zelda II would be a pain. While I love the game, Zelda II clings to the possibility of being the most difficult game of all time. From downright unfair mechanics, like taking damage during item collection screens or the necessity to realize the possibility of hidden walls in dungeons, to the inherent learning curve of an RPG, Adventure of Link took big swings and defined the Zelda series’ need for deviation and a distinct identity for each game. With that said, the Link from Zelda II is more of a “burn your hand on that stovetop, and you’ll learn to never touch it again” kind of teacher. His lessons are hard, but one of the biggest takeaways from the Zelda series is to never give up, and there isn’t anyone who delivers that message more clearly than the Link from Zelda II. The Link from Twilight Princess explores some of the most terrifying dungeons in the Zelda series, and he would have a leg up in the challenges he faces if he had the series’ cruelest tutor as a Shade.

Death: The Link from Adventure of Link has high stakes tied to his demise. As per the fail-state screen, Link’s death would result in Ganon’s minions acquiring the blood of the Hero, which would lead to the Dark King’s return. The Hero’s death would mean the rebirth of Ganon, as chronicled in To Go Alone – Return of Ganon, my own fan fiction covering the early games in the Zelda series. For Link to die to a simple beast would be anticlimactic, and would go against the overall message of the game: Light wills over Darkness. The Link from Twilight Princess never faces a Dark Link scenario, so it’s hard to gauge how he would react. Certain cutscenes from the game allude to his weakness when confronted with power, but an argument could be made that his insistence on pursuing the path of Light shows that his true nature is good through and through. I think the Link from Zelda II could present Link with challenges — such as a Dark Link battle — that could change his trajectory. I think this momentum toward reckless challenges could easily result in the demise of the “Adventure Shade.”

Breath of the Wild

“Sometimes, you have to start over. That rebirth can result in the best years of your life, but if you fail to apply what you’ve learned, the new connections you’ve made will be snuffed out.”

Skills: I think it would be interesting to have a later Link inform an earlier Link. The Zelda series is no stranger to time manipulation, so having the Link from Twilight Princess have clandestine meetings with the Wild Era Link would be sensational. Imagine passing on the knowledge of Fury Rushes, further twisting time itself. The Link from Twilight Princess would learn how to navigate the world with rock-climbing and mastery over weather patterns. A fellow hero without an instrument, there would be an emphasis on exploring the world and discovering its secrets. While Twilight Princess is a fairly grounded take on Link, discovering an inner power could give him more agency outside of his wolf form. I could also see a greater attention on the overworld, resulting in the “Wild Shade” passing on tips for how to crush Bokoblins with rocks or use his horse as a battering ram (another hidden feature I enjoy from Twilight Princess). Twilight Princess could also take advantage of Wolf Link’s appearance in Breath of the Wild. For so long, we have viewed the Hero’s Shade as a “one-way street” kind of interaction. What if the pupil had an impact on the master? The integration of Wolf Link into Breath of the Wild, while awesome, always seemed ripe for improvement. Maybe a canonical, foreshadowed emotional connection with the Link from Twilight Princess could make Breath of the Wild feel even more aligned with the greater series’ lore.

Advice: While the Link from Breath of the Wild, the “Wild Shade,” seems shallow on the surface, he’s actually one of the more expressive Links. With sassy speech options abound, he engages with the above-average dialogue-writing of the Wild Era games. I think the Wild Shade would encourage his pupil to interact with the world at large, making deeper connections. The Link from Twilight Princess clearly lost a family, or else why would he have found a new family in Rusl, Ilia, Mayor Bo, and the children? The parts of this game that focus on the outcome of his beginnings in Ordon Village give an emotional gut-punch that is perhaps lost in certain sections of the narrative. If Link had a presence teaching him to engage more with the people in his life, maybe Link would end up being more expressive and goal-oriented in the latter parts of the game.

Death: This is an interesting question. Not only does this Wild Era Link survive through a sequel in Tears of the Kingdom, he also already died. What character death could ever outdo the tragic, cinematic memory in Breath of the Wild? I may have an answer. We’ve already seen the heroic, trumpet-sounding death in the memories. What could be sadder than that? For anyone who has played Breath of the Wild, did anything capture the feeling of a Zelda game more than the early deaths against Moblins and Lynels? I think a sure-fire way to make this hero’s death impactful is to make it dull. Maybe this Link takes on a horde of Lynels, and he just doesn’t have enough stamina to make it through the fight. After years of pomp and circumstance, Link dies to a single arrow. This could show the fragility that comes with age, or perhaps the increased risk that follows young heroes into adulthood. Zelda is a series that has always played with the concept of time, but it has never truly reached into the beyond and focused a game on a Link who is past his prime. Seeing a glimpse of this in the Wild Shade could be enlightening.

Conclusion

There are many factors that contribute to the bittersweet tone of Twilight Princess. There’s no overstating the importance of the mysterious undead knight who mentors Link. The feeling of a bond with an alternate version of yourself comes with the feeling of mastering each new sword form, feeling yourself grow as a warrior. Nintendo’s choice to make Link a player-surrogate can lead the casual gamer to believe Link has no personality. On the contrary, I think the subtext of these games speaks volumes. I love analyzing what few scraps of personality we get for the different Links. With the details as sparse as they are, much of Link’s personality is usually open to interpretation. The Hero’s Shade is a rare instance of characterization for a previous Link. He goes on poetic monologues. He laments and regrets. This format of an ancient ancestor training his descendant teaches us so much about the Link from Ocarina of Time. I hope the Zelda team keeps exploring creative ways to dive deeper into what it means to be Link.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Links I listed, as well as any other Links you think would make a great Hero’s Shade. What lessons and advice would they pass on? How did they die? How would they alter the trajectory of Twilight Princess? Let us know in the comments!

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