Link: Good or Evil?

[Twilipower1984]

this title seems self explanatory but think of all that we have to go on. In OOT, he makes a judgement call to go after the two remaining spiritual stones. The reason being that zelda says she had a dream. He has never left the forest and I doubt the kokiri pay taxes to hyrule castle not to mention that no kokiri has ever left the forest. Granted link is a hylian but he has never left the forest. And his getting the spiritual stones causes Ganon to be able to get into the sacred realm. Isn't a little proof that he is head strong and goes into situations without all the facts and how it will affect him. do you think he would have touched that sword if he knew that he would be trapped for seven years and in that span ganon was able to turn the world he knew into hell on earth.
Example 2:
Twilight Princess:
Link takes midna as a companion even though he passed out and woke up to her taunting him and him being bound. Would you wonder maybe she/it/he put me here. but why would s/he/it break me out. if link had known the shadow beasts were possessed by zant and were part of midna's people isn't that evil to kill them despite their position. Also, he gets the three fused shadows and then finds out that midna has a chip on her shoulder about being banished to the twilight realm. This is part to treason consorting with a condemned prisoner. After midna is almost killed by zant, does he realize that she is good and must save her despite her faults. After getting to the mirror chamber, he has to question whether or not reuniting the mirror shards are a good idea because it might allow ganon who was banished there obviously a bad person to return.
Wind Waker:
consorting with pirates even after the helmaroc king drops tetra/zelda on the mountain top. For all he knows it could be a trap obviously after he saves zelda his sister is taken and yet he still pursues the pirates and then they fire him into the dragons keep. Living on outset island, he heard the legends of ganon but we hear of avalon and king arthur wouldn't it seem that the goddesses bound ganon and hyrule for good reason.

I put these perspectives up for debate and see if you can a) refute them b) come up with a justification for them.

 

[Wild Thing]

From what you have said Link has done no evil so there is no debate all the things he did that helped the enemy were done because he didn't know what would happen. He was doing what he was told.

 

[Tsukasa112]

Link went after the spiritual stones because he trusted in what Zelda said; and i believe the Deku Tree told him to see Zelda in the first place. Not sure on that one. And with Twilight Princess, at first Link was only helping Midna because he had to. After that, he learnt that she did have good intentions, and then trusted in her too. Link's just too trusting of a guy, i guess.

 

[JuicieJ]

Well, since Link's the hero in every game, I would assume he's good. This isn't X-Men, and Link isn't Wolverine.

 

[BigBig]

Link always has the best of intentions when he does things, and when he does do something wrong (*coughcoughocarinaoftimecoughcough*), he always fixes it. It's not like he's trying to take over Hyrule.

He is a bit naive, but that doesn't make him a bad guy.

 

[Ventus]

You all are missing the point, he is saying "If Link had full knowledge of his surroundings and the people, do you honestly think he would do what he did?", not "OMGLINKDIDTHISLEADINGTOTHISSOHEISEVIL". Learn how to see things a different way -.-

I think Link is a good person at heart, and he wouldn't do what he did because of the consequences. 'What does being a hero mean if your fairy leaves you?' (Referencing MM) 'Why should I help some freak throughout my time on Hyrule when all she does is force me around, even after her mood swing?' (Referencing TP) and 'Ooh, I'm a bird rider. But my best friend is gone!' (Referencing a supposed SS plot point) are some questions that arise in my head when I'm using the 'Link' persona.

You have to think about it, Ganondorf likely wouldn't have gotten past the Door of Time were it not for Link's meddling (for the worse). And, Link would still have Navi around, possiblysleeping with his recurring nightmares every once in a while. But nightmares aren't bad, they don't do much of anything whereas seeing your land devastated actually leaves an impression on your mind and almost always will leave you in a state of dementia.

In TP, if Link didn't banish the suckers and the twilight from Hyrule, he might've had to live in fear of shadow beasts, but he also automatically has the Triforce with him. Apparently, they can't mess with him so long as he has it, so he just use it much like Samwise Gamgee used the vial in Lord of the Rings to keep things away from him (heck, maybe he could use the noncanon Triforce Slash lol). So, he could help Midna bust out of jail (I don't think she needed his help but the other way around), maybe even take Zelda with him, and then just sit by in Ordon while Zant conquers Hyrule. There's no harm in that, as Zelda already gave the order for imprisonment rather than death, and Zant seems like a trustworthy yet sadistic man given his word.

I can't comment on SS yet, unfortunately.

 

[coolperson135]

You all are missing the point, he is saying "If Link had full knowledge of his surroundings and the people, do you honestly think he would do what he did?", not "OMGLINKDIDTHISLEADINGTOTHISSOHEISEVIL". Learn how to see things a different way -.-

I think Link is a good person at heart, and he wouldn't do what he did because of the consequences. 'What does being a hero mean if your fairy leaves you?' (Referencing MM) 'Why should I help some freak throughout my time on Hyrule when all she does is force me around, even after her mood swing?' (Referencing TP) and 'Ooh, I'm a bird rider. But my best friend is gone!' (Referencing a supposed SS plot point) are some questions that arise in my head when I'm using the 'Link' persona.

You have to think about it, Ganondorf likely wouldn't have gotten past the Door of Time were it not for Link's meddling (for the worse). And, Link would still have Navi around, possiblysleeping with his recurring nightmares every once in a while. But nightmares aren't bad, they don't do much of anything whereas seeing your land devastated actually leaves an impression on your mind and almost always will leave you in a state of dementia.

In TP, if Link didn't banish the suckers and the twilight from Hyrule, he might've had to live in fear of shadow beasts, but he also automatically has the Triforce with him. Apparently, they can't mess with him so long as he has it, so he just use it much like Samwise Gamgee used the vial in Lord of the Rings to keep things away from him (heck, maybe he could use the noncanon Triforce Slash lol). So, he could help Midna bust out of jail (I don't think she needed his help but the other way around), maybe even take Zelda with him, and then just sit by in Ordon while Zant conquers Hyrule. There's no harm in that, as Zelda already gave the order for imprisonment rather than death, and Zant seems like a trustworthy yet sadistic man given his word.

I can't comment on SS yet, unfortunately.

I think Link would still act the way he did. No matter which link we are talking about, all of them have boundless courage. Take the Wind waker Link for example. He didn't care if he had to work with pirates or if they were planning a trap for him. All he cared about rescuing his sister, even if it meant taking a lot of risks. The same could be said for all Links. They are willing to face anything that comes their way and risk everything to save or rescue that which they hold dear. Now, Link's courage can also be interpreted as recklessness, as Tetra notes a few times, but i believe that Link is just the bravest person in the entire Zelda universe, which is why he is always the rightful bearer of the triforce of courage.

To Sum it all Up, Link basically says "Come at me, bro" to anything in his way. The kid's brave, but a bit reckless.

Also, about OOT, if link had not meddled, Ganondorf would have eventually found a way into the sacred realm on his own anyways, as noted in ALTTP. At the end of OOT, if link had not told the King and Zelda of Ganondorf's evil intentions (which leads to his "execution" in TP), he would have just found his way into the sacred realm by himself, regardless of the door of time. Instead of going back to a peaceful life in the Kokiri forest as Adult Zelda wanted, Link chose the life of a hero again and told Zelda and the King of Ganondorf's intentions.

 

[PK Love Omega]

In Majora's Mask, you can blow up Sakon... maybe he is evil XD

 

[agoraphobia]

I dont think god or evil is te right description... hes Necessary more then anything because w/o Link, then Hyrule wold be under control of those that have selfish desires for power or change

 

[RegalBryant]

If he hadn't gotten all the Spiritual Stones, then Ganondorf could have collected them all any way, right? In Twilight Princess, Midna rescued him, so he owed her, right?

 

[Seth]

Ganondorf in OoT tricked the king into trusting him, he also made trouble for all the tribes that held the Spiritual Stones (cursing the Deku Tree, putting monsters in Dodongos Cavern and then sealing it off, making Jabu Jabu sick by putting Barinade and his buddies inside of him). He would have without a shadow of a doubt got the stones and Ocarina if Link hadn't got there first. Just maybe not as quick, he was deceitful and was also very powerful.
When Link collected the stones he did so because the Princess he was asked to seek out by the Deku Tree sent him on such a quest. They both thought if they could get to it first then they would prevent Ganondorf from getting it himself. They made a huge mistake which Link went through great perils to correct. Link has done nothing 'evil', but he has made mistakes.
Sure there are instances, like stealing from the store in LA, where Link can do things that are not 'good' but not in itself evil. It takes a lot to make someone truly evil.

 

[De_krumpel]

I was thinking about that too but not the way you did.
In most zelda games something happens and somebody else tells link what to do and you as the hero is doing as told.

Like in Tp midna comes along and link has no other choice than to do as she tells him. But what if zant came first and just used him for his own evil doing?
So i think link just is neutral.

 

[Ganondork]

Good and Evil are truly a thin line between each other, and even the one who is doing evil believes they're doing good, because criminals normally justify themselves and don't say "yeah, I wanted to rob that bank because, you know, it sounded like a fun idea." I'm actually going to take the stance of neutral, just so my words don't come out as biased.

Now, he pursues the spiritual stones because the Princess said she had a dream about him and saying he's bad. Now, there are such things are corrupted leaders, but Zelda was at an age where she was more innocent than corrupt. She wouldn't just tell a random little kid, "Yeah, I saw that guy in a dream, he's a real bad guy." if she wasn't sure that not only was he supposed to do that, but that what she was saying was true. But, as we know, Ganondorf actually tricked the King, which that alone isn't a good thing to do. And if you think about it, before Link even got the Master Sword just yet, Ganondorf attacked him when he chased after Impa and Zelda. Link could have kept the Spiritual Stones just for safe-keeping, but the minute Ganondorf attacked him, it would be obvious to anyone that Ganondorf isn't exactly good news. And then of course, the Great Deku Tree - the Kokiri's protector - told Link - who thought he was a Kokiri at the moment - to get the Spiritual Stones. Disobeying your protector isn't exactly an option, unless you want to be banished - or worse.

In Twilight Princess' case, he joined Midna in the beginning because she was helping him escape. It was either go with her and escape, or rot in that cell for the rest of his life. Any of us - good or evil - would go ahead and take the enticing offer to escape. And really, Midna taunts him, but she's helping him escape, so the fact that you're free kind of outweighs the fact that you're being insulted. And then of course when Zant injures her greatly, Link more than likely felt a friendly bond with her and decided that she wasn't evil - which she ended up not being - and took her to Zelda. That is actually a very noble thing to do, to ignore the fact that you're stuck in your wolf form and save your friend, is actually very kind-hearted to do for somebody else.

In Wind Waker, he joins the pirates because his sister has been captured. If my sister was captured, I'd join the pirates in a heartbeat and I'm not a cold-blooded killer. Once his sister was rescued, yes, he continued to pursue them and everything, but that was simply because he felt that Tetra wasn't that bad of a person. And if you recall, she really wasn't.

If you glance at all of these facts, you'll realize that Link - although he has his faults - is actually good, and overall pure-hearted. He can't help if he makes a mistake here and there, he can't really help it. He's only human - or Hylian.

 

[bulbasaur]

this is foolishness, good and evil are defined by your intentions.

you can be a bumbling idiot and turn the world into ashes but still not be evil.

evil comes from desires to gain power/hurt people/ destroy everything in sight.

all link ever wanted to do was stop ganondorf/save zelda/save his sister.

desperate times call for desperate measure but that doesnt make a pure heart evil

 

[Maikeru]

Link is obviously a meanie-head. Since he always fights Ganondorf and never asks him how his day was, or what his favorite color is. He always just kills all the poor, innocent, violent monsters in sight without ever thinking of whether they enjoy being dead or not. Poor monsters. Poor Ganondorf.