Link's Parents
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| Link's Parents | |
|---|---|
.png) Link's parents from the Ocarina of Time manga | |
| First appearance | Ocarina of Time (1998) |
| Sex | (Father) Male (Mother) Female |
| Homeland | Hyrule |
| Kindred | Each other (spouses) Link (son) |
| Race | Hylian |
Link's Parents are characters mentioned in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Little is known about them, but both are thought to have died in the Hyrulean Civil War that raged across Hyrule some years prior to the events of the Imprisoning War, leaving their son, Link, under the guardianship of the Great Deku Tree in Kokiri Forest.
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[edit] Link's Father
Link's Father is the title given to the man who fathered Link, the Hero of Time. Not much is known about him, other than him being deceased during the events of Ocarina of Time, since Link is said to have been orphaned during the Hyrulean Civil War.
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the viewpoints or research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
Interestingly, the father of the Hero of Time may have first been referenced in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, where the first mention is made of the Master Sword, its first master (eventually revealed, in later games, to be the Hero of Time), the origins of Ganon as Ganondorf, the creation of Hyrule by three deities, and of the Imprisoning War and the Seven Sages. In A Link to the Past, the Pedestal of Time reads:
The Hero's triumph on Cataclysm's Eve,
wins three Symbols of Virtue.
The Master Sword he will then retrieve,
keeping the Knights' line true.
The Hero of Time, is presumably the Hero mentioned in the above narrative. As a child, he won the three Spiritual Stones: the Kokiri's Emerald, Goron's Ruby and Zora's Sapphire. On the day he completes this quest and returns to deliver the stones to Princess Zelda (the day referred to as the "Great Cataclysm's Eve"), he unwittingly lets Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm by opening the Door of Time, allowing Ganondorf to seize and inadvertently shatter the Triforce. This Link awoke seven years later and retrieved the Master Sword, using it and the power of the Seven Sages to fight Ganondorf/Ganon (the event commonly referred to as the Imprisoning War). The statement that he "kept the Knights' line true" implies he was descended from the Knights of Hyrule.
Among other similarities, it is note-worthy that in A Link to the Past, Link also embarks on a quest to reclaim three "symbols of virtue": a set of three medallions which are the same colors as the original Spiritual Stones. Whether these medallions are the Spiritual Stones, perhaps reshaped over time, also remains speculation.
Theory warning: Theories end here.
[edit] In the manga
Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.
This is further supported by the unofficial manga. In the Ocarina of Time manga, Rauru, the Sage of Light, tells the grown up Link that he was indeed born into the house of guardians that protected the King of Hyrule and his family, and that his father was one of those guardians. He goes on to tell Link that his father was killed in battle during the Hyrulean Civil War. This explains his absence in the game, as well as the Hero of Time's blood link to the Knights of Hyrule, as stated by the Pedestal of Time in A Link to the Past.
In A Link to the Past, it is said that the Knights of Hyrule have died out, but implied that the Link in this game is their descendant. In fact, the Nintendo-licensed graphic novel for A Link to the Past implicitly states that Link's parents were Knights of Hyrule. Whether this means that the Links from Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past are blood relatives is, while plausible, only speculation.
Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.
[edit] Link's Mother
Link's Mother is mentioned in Ocarina of Time by the Great Deku Sprout. During the Hyrulean Civil War, Link's Mother was gravely injured, and gave her son to the Great Deku Tree, in order to protect him from becoming another casualty of the war. The Great Deku Tree took him in, sensing he was a "child of destiny", and raised him as a Kokiri.
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the viewpoints or research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
At a certain point in the Hyrulean Civil War, the fighting reached even the major Hylian settlements ruled by the Royal Family of Hyrule, forcing many from their homes and raining death and destruction from all sides. The mother of the infant Link was forced from her home during one of the attacks, following the death of her husband, and to escape from the fires of the fierce war, she resolved to flee to a place relatively untouched by the intense fighting: the forbidden Kokiri Forest. Taking her infant son and (presumably) what provisions she could, she fled her besieged home. As she was fleeing the settlement, she may have been attacked and badly wounded. Finally, when she could flee no further and her energy was spent, she collapsed on the forest floor.
Theory warning: Theories end here.
[edit] In the manga
Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.
In the manga, she rides initially on horseback. When she reaches Kokiri Forest, just as she is about to faint, she hears small footsteps nearby and loses consciousness as many small figures appeared from the shadows of the trees around her. These small figures are the Kokiri, the child-like race protected by the Great Deku Tree, whose members are said to never age. They bring Link's Mother to their settlement deep within the forest and attempt to tend to her wounds, but her injuries are so great that they could do little but comfort her. They then take her before the Great Deku Tree himself, the guardian spirit of the forest that takes the form of a giant, talking tree. The Hylian mother regains consciousness as her last moments were nigh, and the Deku Tree converses with her concerning the future of her son. Knowing that her time is quickly drawing to a close, she reveals the child's name to be Link and makes it clear she does not want him to become another victim of the civil war that was tearing the realm apart. Her only option is to leave her child under the guardianship of the Great Deku Tree, who could sense that her child was one of destiny, whose fate would affect the entire world and change the course of Hyrule's future in years to come. Shortly after the Great Deku Tree promises to protect her child from harm and to watch over him as he grows.
Following the burial of the Hylian mother, the Great Deku Tree resolves to raise Link in accordance with Kokiri tradition, teaching him the means necessary to survive in the forest and to deter him from straying outside its borders until he was ready. The Great Deku Tree decided to not tell the child of his true heritage or what he truly was until the time was right and he was ready to know. The one problem with this omission of information, however, is the fact that every Kokiri has a fairy companion to accompany them throughout the course of their lives, meaning Link, not actually being Kokiri, was the only member of the tribe without one. For approximately ten years, the boy grew up amongst the children of the forest, not having any idea why he seemed somehow different from all the other Kokiri, nor why he alone did not have a fairy companion (he was referred to as "The Boy Without a Fairy", by the other children). Thus, the boy that would one day become one of the greatest figures in Hyrule's history vanished from the public eye, disappearing into the depths of the forest, not to be seen nor heard from again, for over a decade.
Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.
