Game Theory: Link Is NOT Who You Think He Is... (The Legend of Zelda)

I mean yeah Link wasn’t of the hero’s spirit by birth. He literally just gained that recognition through sheer will and dedication. He’s a hero by Action, not by Birthright

Zelda is a part of the curse of Demise. The curse wasn't aimed at just Skyward Sword Link. It says blood of the goddess, which is Zelda. Also I don't think you get what happened in wind waker. He wasn't a chosen hero true, but he became one through the course of the game. He earned the title, and as such was able to acquire the triforce of courage and the Master Sword. By overcoming trials he proved his courage and became a hero.

As other comments have said, Windwaker Link is explicitly stated to become the Hero by the end of the game, but there’s another issue I have, and that’s that there’s no real reason to believe that the rules stated in Link to the Past necessarily apply to different incarnations of the cycle. The stated rules could very well apply only to LttP’s version of Link, not effecting other variants of the character

Ganon: "No Hero can defeat me!" Zelda removes helmet: "I am no hero!"

Demise stated that, "an incarnation of my hatred" will follow the spirit of the hero. It's possible that Bellum (phantom hourglass) and Malladus (spirit tracks) are just different incarnations of the demise curse. Demise never said it had to be a dude named Gannon specifically

matpat, as much as i love your conclusion, i think you missed that zelda was also roped into that curse. that implies that she would also continue the curse by defeating ganon, which is bound to happen after totk as well...

There's a couple holes in this theory, but the biggest one is a quote from Zelda herself in Breath of the Wild: "The sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the hero." The Hero of Winds must be the inheritor of the hero's spirit to wield the Master Sword to it's full potential.

And that’s why he’s the best Link! But My favorite personal theory it that the Link from BotW and TotK failed 100 years ago, because we weren’t there to play as him. They talk about how he changed after pulling the master sword, he become withdrawn. In order to be the hero he needs our guidance but we weren’t there, so he failed. It’s a bit loose but I think our involvement is the actual spirit of the hero.

The curse doesn't only follow Link, but it follows Zelda too. He cursed both the spirit of the hero AND the blood of the goddess. The blood of the goddess is passed down through the lineage of the Hyrulian family, ie, Zelda's bloodline.

The problem with this theory is that Mattpat thinks Ganondorf is the only incarnation of Demise's curse. As shown with B tier villains like Vaati, the vague wording of the curse allows for more than just Ganon to be that reincarnation. This means the spirit of the hero always has some great evil to vanquish, Ganon just happens to be the most persistent.

Matpat figured out the literal plot of the game I'm so proud of him.

that last part would hit really hard if they chose to do it. through all these games we've kinda been going a legend of link but finally after all that, it really did end up being the legend of zelda. that would be incredibly cool

For starters it's a known fact about the hero of wind that he wasn't the chosen hero, there was a whole quest in the game to force himself to be chosen, but because of that quest, collecting the triforce and beating the tower of the gods, he BECAME the chosen hero. Another point that many others have also brought up is that the evil doesn't have to be Ganon, vaati and malladus could also be considered incarnations of demise's hatred.

There are many games where Zelda already tried to defeat ganondorf. As sheik and as herself. In a lot of games (if not all) her triforce is actually needed to seal him. Whether it be as a sage, a triforce holder, or just using her iconic arrows she’s evolved from being a simple damsel in distress.

I think the phrasing in the curse is pretty important. It specifically mentions BLOODLINE with Zelda and SPIRIT with Link. The spirit of the hero traditionally appearing through royal guard but not limited to that. The hero of wind began the story as some random kid but through his heroic action and courage took on the spirit of the hero

Didn't Ganondorf seem especially tired in Windwaker? I assume he never came back because his rage wasn't as eternal as he thought. Link in Windwaker became a knight by right during his quest, even piecing together the triforce of courage to claim it as his. Besides, that shield's triforce isn't upside down, and the fact that Outset's symbol is so close to the triforce (plus Orca's obsession with swords) tells me the whole island may be related to the knights of Hyrule. Knights get sent on missions, there's plenty of reasons for them to be south of Lake Hylia (perhaps a mission to dam the lake and evacuate citizens before the flood became too severe. Hyrule likely expanded after OOT, before the flood).

Demise's curse was still enacted, with Malibus in Spirit Tracks. As for the hero thing, half the game's story is based around him not being the hero of destiny, and having to obtain it from the gods.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but the spirit of the hero is not just the target of the curse it's also targeted at "the blood of the goddess". Props for connected the dots on Wind Waker Link

Wind Waker is my FAVORITE game as a kid, and I absolutely LOVE that this is a theory about Wind Waker! Although you're right, Wind Waker Link wasn't a chosen hero, he BECAME one throughout the game. He literally had to force the goddesses to choose him. Putting together the Triforce, fighting through the Tower of the Gods, and obtaining the Master Sword and restoring its power... That is all he had to do, to be recognized as a Hero, given the title "Hero of Winds" just to be able to defeat Ganondorf. All because his Sister was kidnapped. This was my first game, and I LOVED it SO much as a kid. It's beautiful, and has an amazing art style. I'm SO glad this was made. 💙

I just noticed that the curse is bound to Zelda in addition to Link. It states “Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero”, matpat further explains this goddess being Zelda. Just a thought though. 3:42