Building a Hero: Analyzing What Makes Link Such an Iconic Protagonist

Zelda Informer: "What makes a hero? Courage? Wisdom? Power? Or a tri…ad of the three? While these are simple concepts to understand, they are difficult to convey, especially in unknown characters. When telling a story, the author must build the character in such a way that the character is likable, understandable, and replayable. Therein lies the difficulty of telling stories in video games. How does one make the player’s character fit these three molds in a memorable way? While character development takes place over the course of the story, the first hour or so is the most crucial part of the character development. If the audience is adverse to the character at such an early stage, repairing this damaged view of the character will take quite a bit longer.

The character of Link is an interesting one to say the least. While he rarely speaks, he is, in my opinion, one of the most well-developed characters in the history of video games. There are many instances of Link, and while a few of them have not had any story or background, from A Link to the Past on, each Link has been given a unique introduction that has given the character a life of his own. Throughout the years, Link has been recreated in many different ways in many different places, yet, there are a few characteristics that remain the same. These are the essential building blocks of our hero. While the traditional hero is one of the tragic, or flawed, hero, Link is the opposite…"