Link

Link is the main character in The Legend of Zelda Series which was first debuted in 1986 with the launch of The Legend of Zelda. Ever since then, Link has appeared in every game in the series, and has earned a reputation as one of the most recognizable characters among gamers, and has graced the top spot in Nintendo Power's top 5 characters.

However Link is also known as the Hero of Time or the Hero of Winds. Link's main goal is often times to save the Princess Zelda and defeat the evil Ganondorf.

Character
The character's personality and attributes don't change much between the games. His look is overall similar, though minor differences are visible. In all of the games Link is a teenager of varying ages. All of the incarnations of Link are left handed, excluding the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Nevertheless, this game was a mirror of the GameCube version in which he was left handed - this was done to suit right handed people (as they would hold the Wii Remote in that hand) of which there is a majority.

Another common attribute with Link and many other video game characters is the fact that he never speaks. He isn't mute, though rather the developers wish for the players to determine what he says. All Links cloth themselves in a green tunic, though the appearance of this particular tunic changes with each new game. It should also be noted that Link is most often distinguished with the Triforce of Courage, while Ganondorf wields the Triforce of Power and Zelda the Triforce of Wisdom.

In each video game Link is a Hylian. In Ocarina of Time, Link assumes that he's in fact a Kokiri, not knowing of his Hylian ancestry, which a young Deku Tree informs him of later in the game.

A common feature found in most video games is the concept of hammerspace - having a nearly endless pocket in which he carries all of his items in. For example, during most of the game all you see is Link's sword and shield, though somehow he is also holding hammers, iron boots, bows and arrows, a grappling hook, multiple different swords and tunics without it even stunting his movement. Notably, the Iron Boots, when on, will cause Link to walk very slowly - however, even though he's carrying it throughout the game it causes no effect whatsoever unless they're on.

History
Link has been through many adventures in his homeland, Hyrule, although several of his games have taken place in other lands such as Labrynna, Holodrum and Termina. Unlike Mario, whose games can usually go in any order chronologically, there are multiple incarnations of Link who are said to rise up when a great evil threatens Hyrule, such as Ganon or Vaati.

The Legend of Zelda
In The Legend of Zelda, Link was chosen by an Old Man to save Hyrule. The Old Man gave him a sword, and Link went off. In this game, Hyrule is largely desolate, with all the citizens going underground to protect themselves from freely roaming monsters. The final enemy, Ganon, is clearly in control of the land. Link finds the 8 pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom in 8 dungeons, then ventures to Ganon's dungeon for a final confrontation in order to save Princess Zelda.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
In Adventure of Link, the same Link as before finds out from Impa that he has in possession the Triforce of Courage. Zelda has been put to sleep by her brother and a magician. Link must go to 6 Palaces in order to release the seal on the Thunderbird Palace, where he goes on to defeat the Thunderbird in order to release the seal on Zelda. In addition, Ganon's minions are wreaking havoc in Hyrule again, hoping to sacrifice Link in order to bring back Ganon. Link defeats the Thunderbird, but then confronts his own Shadow, Shadow Link.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Link comes back in Link to the Past. This time, he has an uncle who is a Knight of Hyrule. Link recieves a telepathic message from Zelda, who has been imprisoned by a wizard named Agahnim. Agahnim was an advisor to the King of Hyrule, but then brought upon him a Coup in order to gain control. Link tells his uncle, who goes off to the Castle. Zelda contacts him once more, and he goes to her. Link finds his uncle injured inside the castle and takes his sword and shield to save Zelda. He rescues her, and then she tells Link that in order to fell Agahnim, he will need to contact a wise man, Saharasla.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, Link finds himself on an island after a dreadful ship wreck. Soon after, he is taken to Tarin's house, where Link will meet Marin (Tarin's daughter who resembles Zelda). Once Link ventures outside, an owl tells him that he must find and play the 8 sirens to awaken the Wind Fish to return back to his homeland, Hyrule. Each 1000 siren is heavily guarded by a boss found inside of a dungeon. Once he traverses through every dungeons, and destroy every boss, he will be able to play the instruments, and wake the fish. It is soon revealed that this story is nothing but a mere dream (the wind fish's dream) that Link is trapped inside. Though to get out, he must still play the sirens, which will wake the fish up, thus getting rid of the dream and saving Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Ocarina of Time is generally accepted as one of the greatest games of all time. In the game, Link is sleeping, and is awakened by Navi the fairy. She tells Link that he (being Link) has been summoned by the Great Deku Tree. The giant tree tells the young Link to venture inside of him, and destroy the curse that is possessing him. Link does so, but is unable to save the tree from dying. Before he dies, he tells Link the story of Ganondorf, and how he plans to steal the triforce and take control over the land. Link then sneaks through Hyrule castle, where he encounters Zelda, who tells Link of a dream she recently had (which is about the future of Hyrule). She then tells Link about Ganondorf, and how she and Link should defeat him with using the triforce.

Link must then find three special stones in the first half of the game. After he obtains them, he will see Ganondorf kidnapping Zelda. Zelda will then throw the Ocarina of Time into a river right outside of Hyrule Town, which Link will have to find. The princess with then telepathicaly tell Link the song of time, which should be played on the ocarina. When he learns it, he must go to the Temple of Time, where he plays the song, and goes seven years into the future after pulling the Master Sword.

In those seven years Gannondorf has taken over Hyrule with the Triforce of Power. Link must save the 6 sages (there is actually 7 but the 7th one at the time didn't need saving until near the end and the 1st one doesn't need saving at all so Link needs to save 5 until the 7th one needs saving). After saving all six of the sages Link goes to the Temple of Time once more and meets Sheik, who is revealed to be Zelda, after Zelda gives Link light arrows and is kindnapped by Gannondorf (no suprise there) Link goes off to save her and end Gannondorf's reign over Hyrule. The 6 sages create a rainbow bridge for Link to cross to Gannon's Castle.

After destroying the 6 defenses in the catsle and climbing Gannon's Tower Link meets face to face with Gannondorf again. Link quickly uses the Longshot to retreat the a sucure location and reflects Gannondorf's magic attacks and when the attack hits Gannondorf Link shoots Gannondorf with an Light Arrow and then Long shot his way to Gannondorf and slashes at Gannondorf with the master sword. After defeating Gannondorf, Link frees Zelda but then Gannondorf with his last breath causes his Castle to crumble no wait he does that right after he is defeated by Link then Zelda is freed anyway Link and Zelda escape and then Gannondorf thought to be dead then rises when Link approaches his (Gannondorf's Body while it is in some remains of his catsle). Gannondorf then uses the Triforce of Power to become Gannon. Link and Gannon then face off in a showdown. At the begining of the fight Gannon knocks the Master Sword out of Link's hand. Link then shoots the beast's eyes with a light arrow (headshot) and then attacks the tail with more light arrows or the magneton hammer. After weakening Gannon Enough Link is able to retrieve his master sword then slashes at the beast's face (head slash. After shooting more light arrows into the beast's eyes Link slashes at the tail. After the beast is weakened once more Zelda weakens Gannon even farther then the master sword glows for a few seconds. Link then slashes at the beast's head and delivers the final blow. Zelda then opens the portal to the void and Ganondorf is sealed within it.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Ganondorf vows to retake Hyrule back from the sea that flooded it, so that he might one day rule it. A dark energy is felt through the world and Link, the hero of the winds, sets sail via the King of Red Lions after his sister is abducted by the Helmaroc King. At first Link's primary goal is to simply save her awaiting sister, though a series of events occur that causes him to be brought into a much more serious situation that requires him to thwart the demon king Ganondorf. As always, Ganondorf attempts to come in possession of the Triforce so that he can have ultimate power. Also, if he manages to do so, then he won't turn into the boar that he is destined to turn into.

While in most titles Link is simply known as the Hero of Hyrule or Time, the King of Red Lions assumes that another name suits him well this time around - the Hero of Winds, as the character wields the Wind Waker, a magical wand that allows its user to control the winds. In the end of the game, Link wields the Master sword and plunges it through Ganondorf's head, turning him to stone.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure
In this game, there are four styles of Link. There is green, blue, red, and purple. While they are all Link, and they fight together, they encounter a new foe named Vaati. Vaati was origionally just a normal human, until he made a wish, and he had become a giant eye.

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
To be added

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, Link had the ability to turn into a Wolf. He had also met somebody named Midna. The land of Hyrule has also turned into a world of Twilight, due to one named Zant. But in the end, it all appears to be a master plan of the main villain in Zelda games, Ganondorf

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
To be added

Conception
Link was created by Shigeru Miyamoto when he wanted to create a character who would traverse lands and uncover secret dungeons. Link was to be a boy open to the world, and his name stems from the "link" he has with the player. Though in game canon his name is Link, the player can usually name the character whatever they wish to.

Already Released: ''The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda: Adventure of Link The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass ''

Cameos

 * In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Link is at the end in Cranky's video game heroes if the player did not get enought DK coins to beat his place. Video game stars Mario and Yoshi would also appear here as well.
 * Link can be found sleeping at an inn in ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'. Samus Aran, another famous Nintendo character, can also be seen sleeping in another inn.