There are many recurring elements in The Legend of Zelda, but there’s only one element who has appeared in every game: Link. Of course, there hasn’t been a single Link across the franchise’s three timelines. But the spirit of the Hero ensures that each Link is a familiar, easily recognizable figure. That figure is also one defined primarily by his seemingly never-ending supply of courage.
That said, not all Links are created equally and some have a harder time-saving Hyrule than others. The strongest Links can carve through Ganon like he’s butter, but not all of The Legend of Zelda’s champions are cast in the same mold.
Updated on December 17th, 2020 by Juliet Childers: Fans are anxiously awaiting any news on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Though Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has released, many fans still want more news of the Hylian Hero. Or is it the Hero of Time? Or The Minish Hero? Perhaps, it is just Link? Find out which versions of the silent protagonist go hard and which ones might struggle against even an average bokoblin.
14 WEAKEST: Hero Of The Winds
The Hero of Winds is certainly a talented swordsman in his own right. But his strongest feats don’t match that of the strongest Links on this list. That said, it’s not as if he’s particularly weak– he’s just not as strong when it comes down to it. The Hero of Winds even gets one of the strongest swords in the series courtesy of Phantom Hourglass.
At the same time, he’s clearly one of the more inexperienced Links. His acrobatic swordplay is visually appealing, but he struggles to wield other weapons. His Great Spin Attack is also a disaster waiting to happen and outright disorients Link.
13 STRONGEST: Hero Of Twilight
The Hero of Twilight is the first 3D Link who can’t use any of his own magic whatsoever. He makes up for this by arguably being the single most skilled swordsman in the series. Not only is he personally trained by the Hero of Time, but he’s also physically strong enough to sumo wrestle Gorons (albeit with some help).
The Hero of Twilight is even the first Link to come equipped with an actual killing move. Unlike other Links who need to be more passive in combat, the Hero of Twilight can afford to fight as aggressively as he likes. He’s, so far, the only Link to kill Ganondorf in a proper one-on-one duel. Fans hold out hope for a Nintendo Switch release of the game or a full-on remaster.
12 WEAKEST: Hero Of Hyrule
The first Link to appear in the franchise, the Hero of Hyrule is no pushover by any stretch of the imagination. He saves Hyrule not once, but twice. Zelda II even has one of the hardest difficulty curves in the franchise — complete with Link needing to face off against himself when all is said and done. Unfortunately, he is just not as strong as other Links.
For starters, the Hero of Hyrule’s version of Ganon is basically a mindless monster. He’s already on his way to becoming Calamity Ganon, so he is more or less devoid of human sentience. Similarly, most of Link’s foes are enemies that can be comfortably taken out with his basic swordplay. He’s an impressive hero, but more for what he did and not how he achieved it.
11 STRONGEST: Hero Of Time
Determining the Hero of Time’s strength is trickier than that of any other Link. Canonically, he loses to Ganon in one of the three timelines and more than likely dies as a result. But he’s also shown to be extremely skilled in Twilight Princess and is in complete control of his situation in Ocarina of Time. Likewise, Majora’s Mask gives him the Fierce Deity’s Mask while showcasing how much he has grown since OoT.
The Hero of Time may have died in one timeline, but everything else indicates that he is an incredibly competent warrior. Unfortunately for him, he never seems to do anything of note after Majora’s Mask, failing to pass off his sword skills until it’s too late. This forces him to linger as the Hero’s Shade.
10 WEAKEST: Hero Of The Minish
There’s something about Vaati that just fails to live up to Ganon in terms of a terror-inducing villain. Similarly, The Minish Cap’s Link doesn’t come off as impressive as he should either. It’s a pity because he actually is a skilled swordsman, but his tool kit is light and most of his best feats amount to defeating larger versions of regular Legend of Zelda series enemies.
The Minish Cap’s Link is a victim of circumstance more than anything. His adventure takes place so early on in Hyrule’s history that Vaati can’t be that much of a threat. Likewise, the story’s scope is intentionally smaller. Though not a grand adventure, the size of this Link’s heroism does match that of the people he protected (the Minish).
9 STRONGEST: Goddess’ Hero
In direct contrast to Minish Cap, there is the Link that appears in Skyward Sword. This game is, perhaps, the most classically epic game in the franchise as it takes cues from mythology to drive the game’s story and series’ lore forward. In line with this motif, the Goddess’ Hero is quite the powerful Link. Not only is he the first to use the Master Sword, but he actually completes the entire Triforce himself.
The Goddess’ Hero also defeats Ghirahim and Demise — two of the absolute strongest villains in the franchise — multiple times. He may not have access to magic, but the Goddess’ Hero hardly needs more than just his sword.
8 WEAKEST: Heroes Of The Four Sword
Four Links might be better than one on paper, but there are some unfortunate implications that come with Link’s depiction in Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. Of the eight, it’s the four Links seen in the first Four Swords that hold this spot. The second Heroes of the Four Sword can’t be that much stronger, but their feats are considerably more impressive. They defeat Ganon AND Vaati while traveling across the majority of Hyrule.
The original Heroes of the Four Sword have it very easy by comparison. Not only do they only have to deal with a fairly weakened Vaati, but their journey also isn’t particularly difficult or long. Link splits his strength in four as an odd flex against Vaati who was not putting up much of a fight to begin with.
7 STRONGEST: Hero Of The Wild
This is the latest Link and the only one to keep the Master Sword on his person following the events of their game. The Hero of the Wild is set to appear yet again in Breath of the Wild 2 and he’ll likely only become more powerful. This Link has some of the most impressive in-universe feats attributed to any hero in the franchise.
Not only did this Link canonically deflect a Guardian’s attack with a pot lid, but he’s been strong enough to best Hylian knights in armed combat since a young age. He’s also canonically strong enough to walk right into Hyrule Castle to kill Calamity Ganon on the spot (though this exact sequence likely isn’t canon).
6 WEAKEST: Royal Engineer
Though it maintains the cute toon-like animation style, many fans find Spirit Tracks lacking. The game, after all, has rather an odd premise of Link restoring train tracks. Players can also customize trains and get help from ghost Zelda possessing Phantom armors. This is actually quite good for Zelda’s agency in a franchise that often doesn’t give her enough.
But overall, this Link is not suited to the warrior lifestyle. He aspired to become a Royal Engineer, so challenging Malladus might have ranked lower for him vs. restoring train tracks. That said, it just goes to show you don’t need to be an expert swordsman to be a hero.
5 STRONGEST: Legendary Hero
The average Link gets to go on, at most, two adventures. This is a fact that outright leads to the Hero of Time dying with regrets, but it’s not a guarantee. While some Links only ever get their one adventure, one, in particular, has made a career of exploring the world and liberating overrun countries: the Legendary Hero.
First introduced in A Link to the Past, the Legendary Hero is the same Link present in Link’s Awakening and the Oracle games. Said Link has killed (not sealed or defeated) Ganon twice, one of whom had the full Triforce at his disposal. The Legendary Hero also has access to some of the strongest magic in the series including all three of his Medallions & both elemental Rods. On top of that, he also wielded a fully tempered Master Sword. If there was one Link who never stopped adventuring, it’s likely the Legendary Hero.
4 WEAKEST: Tri-Force Heroes
The Link from the Tri-Force Heroes game is technically the same one that appeared in A Link Between Worlds. However, his approach to the pickle in which he finds himself seems out of character, so he warrants another entry. In fact, all Link does in this game is challenge a witch who cursed Princess Style to wear an ugly jumpsuit.
That’s right: Zelda isn’t even in the game at all. But the game and its multiplayer focus did come out of her participation in Spirit Tracks. Though this Link might hold his own against Stacey London or Anna Wintour, he isn’t going to take Ganon down with scathing fashion critiques.
3 STRONGEST: Hyrule Warriors
The Hyrule Warriors game have not been considered canon until this point. However, Age of Calamity has been said to be a direct tie-in to Breath of the Wild. So perhaps the Link seen in the game can be considered a version of the Hylian Hero, as well.
By design, the hack and slash game makes Link feel ultra-powerful. He easily chops through enemies and wields a few different weapons to boot. Despite the question of his canon veracity, this Link can definitely dish out damage when the occasion requires it.
2 WEAKEST: TV Show Link
The Legend of Zelda television show was not the most canonically accurate of representations. It is perhaps most infamous for Link’s childish gripe “Well, excuuuse me, Princess!” Moreover, the character design on Ganon fell somewhere between a generic bad guy and a five-year-old’s attempt at drawing a rabid dog.
The American conceived show also has a running motif of Link trying to get Zelda to kiss him. This, paired with Ganon’s apparent haplessness, renders this Link quite lackluster.
1 STRONGEST: Dark Link
This entry might be a bit controversial, but it still fits the brief. Dark Link is, by definition, still a version of Link. He is also canonically extremely powerful (even if he isn’t that great of a bounty hunter). He is made of shadow magic but has all of the same powers and strength as Link himself.
With this in mind, Dark Link’s power rivals that of the Hero of Twilight and the Hero of Time. Dark Link also differs from Shadow Link and they don’t appear in the same games. However, combined with his overall power and the added metaphorical bonus of “conquering yourself,” Dark Link stands out as one of the supremely strong versions of Link.
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