Summaries
- Link
Humble but brave, these attributes are consistent with Link's role as the rightful bearer of the Triforce of Courage. He is known as the "Hero of the Skies" from Skyward Sword; "Hero of the Minish" from Minish Cap; The Four Who are One from "Four Swords"; "Hero of Time" from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask; "Hero Chosen by the Gods" from Twilight Princess (also called the "Hero of Twilight" in fandom); "Hero of Light" from Four Swords Adventures; "Hero of Legend" from Link's Awakening, A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons; "Hero of Hyrule" from the original The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link; “The Hero of The Wild” from Breath of The Wild; and "Hero of Winds" from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.
Link is the chosen bearer of the Master Sword, a powerful magical sword that is the bane of all evil. As a child, he challenges Ganondorf in order to try to protect Zelda before he inadvertently helps Ganondorf find the Triforce in Ocarina of Time, forcing Link to undo the damage he had caused. Link has several family members, including an uncle in A Link to the Past; an unseen mother in Ocarina of Time, who dies fleeing a war when Link is a baby; a grandmother who raises him and a sister, Aryll, in The Wind Waker; and a grandfather in The Minish Cap. He also was mentioned to have a father in Breath of the Wild over 100 years prior to the events of the game. His mother and father appear as spirits in the official manga.
- Ganondorf
Ganon / Ganondorf is depicted as the ultimate embodiment of evil. His roles range from plotting politicians to a deformed madman to a superpowered entity, sometimes in the course of a single game. Ganondorf is very arrogant, believing himself to be always in the right. Because of this, he never considers anything to be a threat and appears to put minimal effort into fighting, unless he believes it too important. Unsurprisingly, Ganondorf is often in total disbelief when he is defeated. He is not completely beyond sympathy, though; in Wind Waker, Ganondorf claims that his initial motives for seeking the Triforce and conquering Hyrule were out of jealousy for the lush lands of the kingdom, having grown up in a land where death from the elements was a common occurrence. He is portrayed in Ocarina of Time as an ambitious, cunning manipulator, gaining the king's trust before betraying him and using Link (at the last minute) to open the Door of Time, which allows him to access the Triforce. In Twilight Princess, Ganondorf is stated as "the Scourge of Hyrule". In The Wind Waker, Ganon, trying to find Zelda, ordered a mind-controlled bird to capture twelve-year-old, blonde-haired Hylian girls.
- Zelda
Though she is the eponymous character, Zelda's story role is often that of a damsel in distress or "donor" who assists Link. In many games, Zelda is captured by the antagonist Ganon, necessitating Link to come to her rescue. In several games she is one of the Sages or Champions whose heroism is essential to defeating Ganon; in others, like Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker, she adopts alternative personas to take a more active role in the story.