The Legend of Zelda (manga)

Take The Legend of Zelda, turn it into a graphic novel, and you get The Legend of Zelda. Beautiful combinations of plot and humor (usually), the manga follow the adventures of Link and what he does in that game to save the day and rescue Zelda (usually).

Most of the manga are written in Japanese and have been fan-subbed on the internet for people to read, like at Zelda Legends. Official English translations have been released, one every few months, since 2008.

So far, the official manga are:
 * The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II the Adventure of Link by Yuu Mishouzaki.
 * The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past by Shotaro Ishinomori. Run in Nintendo Power.
 * A Link To The Past and Link's Awakening (2 parts) by Ataru Cagiva.
 * Oath of Lilto, an elsewhere spin-off centered around original characters.
 * Ten volumes by Akira Himekawa: A Link To The Past, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (2 parts), Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games, The Legend of Zelda Four Swords [Plus] (2 parts), The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, and a prequel chapter based on The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. Currently published in the US by Viz, except Skyward Sword, which is found only in "Hyrule Historia".
 * The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker: Link's Logbook, a collection of humorous Yonkoma (4-panel strips) rather than an adaptation.

Not to be confused with the Zelda comics, produced in 1990 and 1991 and based on the two NES games in the franchise.

General

 * Adaptation Distillation
 * Badass: Link, obviously.
 * Big Bad: Usually Ganon(dorf). Sometimes turns out to be Vaati/Gufuu, and was once the Skull Kid. Twinrova is The Man Behind the Man (er, women behind the man) in the Oracle stories.
 * Comic Book Adaptation
 * Courtly Love: Some of the stories, Ocarina of Time and the Himekawa Link to the Past in particular, depict varying shades of this between Link and Zelda. Four Swords Plus presents them with gifts of flowers and holding hands.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Most of the stories depict Link as one of these.
 * Everything's Better With Princesses: Princess Zelda.
 * Fairy Companion: Navi in Ocarina of Time (as in the game), Tatl and Tael in Majora's Mask and Ciela in Phantom Hourglass (ditto), the nameless fairy in Four Swords, Ephermelda in Ishinomori's A Link to the Past, and Felicia in Link's Awakening.
 * Heroic Mime: Averted in most of the mangas, but used frequently in the Wind Waker 4-koma.
 * Luminescent Blush: Multiple examples.
 * Link has this (complete with hearts in his eyes) when Zelda kisses his cheek in the first half of Ocarina of Time.
 * He also does it repeatedly during the course of the Himekawa Link to the Past.
 * Missing Mom/Disappeared Dad: Typical of the Zelda franchise, although the background of Oracle of Seasons does show the death of Link's mother. There's no indication of his father's identity, however. Conversely, Four Swords Plus gives him a father, but no mother. Link to the Past (Himekawa version) explains the absence of both, as it's plot-relevant.
 * Raised By Grandparents: Link, in a few of the stories.
 * Requisite Royal Regalia: Zelda is almost never seen without it (except, of course, when she's Sheik or Tetra).
 * Suddenly Voiced: Link talks in the comics.
 * This Cannot Be: Some villains when they're defeated in the adaptions made by Akira Himekawa.
 * This Is Unforgivable: The adaptations made by Akira Himekawa seem to admire this trope. Link calmly declares this to Ganondorf in Part 1 of Ocarina of Time after being forced to kill his old friend Volvagia in order to free him from Ganon's curse and awaken Darunia as the Sage of Fire. He also shouts this at Agahnim in A Link to the Past as he absorbs his magic with the Master Sword and sends it right back at him after he sends Zelda to the Dark World encased in a crystal as part of a sacrifice ritual to open a portal to said realm itself.
 * The Wise Princess: Zelda, whose wisdom is even sought and deferred to by adults when she's a child, such as Link's father in Four Swords Plus.

The Legend Of Zelda - Yuu Mishouzaki

 * Action Girl: Zelda (or rather, Little Zelda), at least up to her inevitable capture. Even then, she doesn't go down without a fight--she splits the Triforce of Wisdom in such a way that at least one piece gouges out Ganon's eye.
 * Adaptational Attractiveness: Impa is decades younger then she was in the source games.
 * Adaptational Badass: Zelda. She received quite a bit of Xenafication.
 * Bloodier and Gorier: Let's just say that the demons don't eff around. The manner in which Pell and Gray's parents died is horrific.
 * Canon Foreigner: Tons--Tia and her father, Pell, Gray and their grandfather, Kana the elf, Rune (the first Zelda's lover, ) and this version of the King of Hyrule.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: The character designs are wildly different from any game version of the characters. Link is considerably less heroic then in other adaptations and in the games, and he doesn't wear his iconic tunic (instead he wears overalls).
 * Eye Scream: So much, it occasionally looks like Berserk with different main characters.
 * Fantastic Racism: The King of Hyrule (along with many Hylians) hates elves with the fury of a thousand suns.
 * Half Human Hybrid: Link is half-elf here.
 * Heroic Bastard:
 * Incest Is Relative:.
 * Older Than They Look: Link is older then Zelda, but looks dramatically younger.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted, there are two Princess Zeldas in this story, Princess Zelda XVI who later becomes queen and Princess Zelda XVII who is the daughter of Zelda XVI.
 * Parental Substitute: Link is raised by Impa in this story.
 * Rags to Royalty:
 * Secret Legacy: Link is never told his parentage.

The Legend Of Zelda - Ran Maru

 * Ret Canon: Of all the things that first appeared in the mangas, Link's pink hair seems to be the thing least likely to be adapted into the games, and yet Link ended up having pink hair in A Link to the Past.
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair: Link inexplicably has pink hair in this manga. This later appeared in a canon game in A Link to the Past.

A Link to The Past - Multiple Versions

 * Cursed With Awesome: In the Ishinomori version, Roam has come to accept and even depend on his beast form (a hawkman) to aid him in battle. Ghanti in the Himekawa version doesn't mind her beast form (a wolf or fox, it's hard to tell), either. Link himself has a noticably better form in both compared to the game's rabbit -- he's a wolf. But he doesn't let himself fall victim to it.
 * Dark World: The Trope Namer world of A Link to The Past, of course.
 * Death By Adaptation:
 * The Dragon: Agahnim. (The game, in contrast, isn't clear on whether he's this or Ganon in disguise.)
 * Playing Tennis With the Boss: How Link fights Agahnim in all three mangas.
 * Psychic Link: (No pun intended.) Link and Zelda are brought together by her telepathic distress call, as in the game. In at least Himekawa's version they then continue to maintain their psychic bond throughout much of the story. Averted in the Cagiva version where Link is never contacted by Zelda, but instead is given a mission to save Zelda by the leader of the knights.

A Link to The Past - Shotaro Ishinomori
This comic was originally commissioned by and ran in Nintendo of America's official magazine, Nintendo Power. As it turns out, this comic was actually an early example of OEL Manga. It was originally published in English in America and then translated into Japanese afterwards. In fact, the Japanese edition is still printed in left-to-right format, has horizontally formatted left-to-right text, and the original English sound effects are left untranslated.


 * Ascended Extra: Sahasrahla. Sahasrahla's grandson who only had a handful of lines in the game becomes a minor recurring character, but he doesn't seem to be a blood relative of Sahasrahla in the manga.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Canon Foreigner: Roam and Epheremelda.
 * Clingy Jealous Girl: Epheremelda
 * Combined Energy Attack: After stunning Ganon with the Master Sword, Link tells Zelda to shoot him with Roam's crossbow, despite not having found the Silver Arrow. The willpower of Link, Zelda, Roam, and the rescued maidens transforms the ordinary arrow into a Silver Arrow, destroying Ganon.
 * Darker and Edgier: Shotaro Ishinomori's version of A Link to the Past is quite dark in comparison with the game, despite it not taking itself too seriously.
 * Defector From Decadence: Zora, the only monster seen who doesn't try to kill Link on sight, and in fact steps in at one point to save his life.
 * Demonic Possession: Rather than just being Ganon in disguise, Agahnim is a separate person who was possessed by Ganon.
 * Expy: This version of the A Link to the Past manga features a knight character named Roam who is basically a Hylian version of Jet Link. Fitting, as this series was drawn by Shotaro Ishinomori.
 * Fairy Companion: Epheremelda is another one of the non-canonical fairy companions that predate Navi.
 * Gainax Ending: The ending was confusing to some people.
 * Magic Mirror: The mirror from the game, which allowed Link to travel between the two worlds, is replaced in Ishinomori's version with the "Com(m)-Fork", a magical tuning fork allowing communication (but not transportation) between the Light and Dark worlds.
 * Mission Control: Sahasrahla and co.
 * OEL Manga: An early example from long before the term OEL Manga was coined. It differs from most OEL Manga in that it was drawn by a big name manga artist, Shotaro Ishinomori. One has to wonder how Nintendo Power managed to hire him to draw this comic.
 * Peek a Bangs: Link is drawn with bangs covering one of his eyes, even though he has never had this hairstyle in any of the games. It's kind of reminiscent of Cyborg 009's peek-a-bangs.
 * Ret Canon: Although not the first Fairy Companion, Epheremelda is the first to have the appearance of a ball of light with wings. Epheremelda only looked like this in distant shots and had a humanoid appearance in closeups.
 * Reused Character Design: Like many manga artists from his generation, Ishinomori frequently gave his older characters new roles in later mangas. Cyborg 002 shows up with Hylian ears as a Canon Foreigner Roam.
 * Sssssnaketalk: Zora.
 * Steampunk: The hot air balloon Link uses the second time he sneaks into Hyrule Castle looks like it was designed by Dr. Seuss.
 * Talking in Your Dreams: After trekking from the desert to Death Mountain, and then sticking his hand into a Dark World portal, an exhausted Link begins seeing visions of Sahasrahla and Zelda. Link wonders aloud if these are mirages, but Zelda informs him, "We are in our dream ... If two people dream the same thing, they will meet." Link later wakes up on the ground in front of the Tower of Hera, thinking "That was a strange dream," but finding that someone has bandaged his wounded arm.
 * The Rival: Roam, he is also trying to save Zelda and defeat Ganon, but he's very antagonistic towards Link.

A Link to The Past - Ataru Cagiva
An adaptation of A Link to the Past. This manga is set in the same continuity and has the same Link as the Link's Awakening manga. It was actually created and released after the Link's Awakening manga, making it a Prequel, despite the original Link to the Past game was released before the Link's Awakening game.


 * Annoying Arrows: At one point, Link's arm is pierced by an arrow all the way through, but this only leaves a minor wound that quickly heals.
 * A Match Made in Stockholm: Link and Zelda meet when Link kidnaps Zelda to get her away from Agahnim.
 * Bare Fisted Monk: Rasuka fights entirely bare handed in a setting where everyone else uses swords.
 * Canon Foreigner: Link and his uncle's friends Tou and Rasuka. Rasuka accompanies Link on his quest. There is also the leader of the Hyrulean Knights who serves as a mentor to Link and also accompanies him. When Link tries to pull the Master Sword out of its pedestal, a guardian spirit appears to test if Link is worthy to wield it.
 * Cry Into Chest: Leader comforts Link after Link's uncle dies by having Link cry into his chest while shirtless.
 * Hero With Bad Publicity: Not only is Link wanted for kidnapping Zelda like he does in the game, in the manga, he is also framed for the murder of his uncle.
 * Impaled With Extreme Prejudice: In their final fight, Link kills Agahnim by running him through with the Master Sword.
 * In the End You Are On Your Own: Rasuka and Leader accompany Link on his entire quest, but in the final fight against Ganon, Link goes in alone.
 * Legacy Character: The Master Sword's guardian is strongly implied to be a hero from centuries in the past who had previously wielded the Master Sword.
 * Named By the Adaptation: Link's uncle is given the name Zanji in the manga.
 * Pieta Plagiarism: Part of Link's uncle's death scene.
 * The Rival: Rasuka was always fighting duels with Link since they were children and even when they go on a quest to save Hyrule together, they still end up competing against each other.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Rasuka and Leader walk in on Link's fight against Agahnim, but stand aside to let Link fight Agahnim himself.
 * Secret Test of Character: The Master Sword's guardian fights Link to see if he is worthy of wielding the blade. Link ends up being no match against the guardian, but the challenge was to test Link's resolve and not his fighting ability.
 * Tender Tears: Link cries after his uncle is murdered. Zelda thinks Link's tears are a sign of weakness, but the leader of the knights tells her that Link cries because he loved his uncle and that Link's love is a sign of strength.
 * The Walls Are Closing In: Rasuka and Leader get trapped in one of these rooms and Link has to use the Master Sword's Sword Beam to break them out.

Link's Awakening - Ataru Cagiva

 * Apocalypse Maiden:
 * Bag of Holding: Felicia holds the Instruments of the Sirens for Link. She dematerializes the instruments for storage and rematerializes them when Link needs them.
 * Blood Knight: Master Drona, the Hinox warrior, fights Link for the enjoyment of fighting.
 * Canon Foreigner: Felicia, the Tsundere Fairy Companion. She's another Canon Foreigner fairy companion that predates Navi. There are also several original villains like Karuna, the Moblin swordsman, and Master Drona, the Hinox warrior.
 * Distressed Damsel:
 * Does This Remind You of Anything: There seems to be a G-rated equivalent of Did You Just Have Sex during a dialog exchange between Link and Felicia. Of course, that isn't what actually happened, this is a Nintendo game after all.
 * Girl Next Door: Interpretations of Marin in the game range from exotic islander to girl next door, the manga goes heavily into a girl next door interpretation.
 * Heroes Want Redheads: Link likes the red-headed Marin.
 * Heroic BSOD:
 * It May Help You On Your Quest: Link is given the ocarina from Madam MeowMeow as a reward for rescuing Bow-Wow instead of finding it in the Dream Shrine like in the game.
 * Jump Ill Catch You: Played straight between Link and Marin when they are attacked by monsters while traveling to the Animal Village.
 * Lotus Eater Machine:
 * Master Swordsman: One of Link's fights is with Karuna, a Moblin master swordsman.
 * Named By the Adaptation: The unnamed ghost in the original game is given the name "Nakura" in the manga.
 * No Hugging No Kissing: One of the rare aversions for this franchise. While there still isn't any actual hugging or kissing, the manga does play up the romance over what was present in the game if only because Link can talk.
 * Showy Invincible Hero: Link in this depict, the only time the possibility of him losing is when his sword breaks and when he fights Dethel, apart of that he's presented as being pretty much unbeatable.
 * Smooch of Victory: Madam MeowMeow tries to give Link one for rescuing Bow-Wow, but Link runs away in terror.
 * Take Up My Sword: Literal example. Nakura the ghost in the manga is a soldier who defended the island when he was alive. After Link takes him back to his house, he gives Link his sword which finishes his Unfinished Business.
 * Ten Minute Retirement:
 * Tsundere: Felicia

A Link to The Past - Akira Himekawa
A third adaptation of A Link to the Past. This manga was created as a tie in to the Game Boy Advance release of A Link to the Past in 2005.


 * Badass Adorable: Ganty, and to a certain extent, Link himself.
 * Baleful Polymorph: People who wander in the Dark World for too long end up turning into beasts because of Ganon's power.
 * Betty and Veronica: Ghanti the bandit (who has dark hair) is jealous of Link's feelings for blonde Zelda.
 * Canon Foreigner: Ghanti the bandit.
 * Continuity Drift: This manga came out over a decade after the other two mangas, and incorporated elements from the later games released in the series that didn't exist when the earlier mangas were created. Ganondorf's human form uses his design from Ocarina of Time and the Armos Knight uses the Ocarina of Time design for Armos rather than the original A Link to the Past design.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Compared to how much trouble he had fighting other monsters, Link pretty much owned Trinexx. Aside from parrying its fire breath with his sword, he didn't have to do anything other than hit it. Once. Even he noticed how Trinexx wasn't that strong.
 * Dead Person Impersonation: Agahnim was a friend of Link's father who was killed by Ganon. Ganon then took Agahnim's form as a disguise.
 * Everything's Better With Princesses: Played straight for most of the manga, but averted by the ending, in which Zelda is crowned Queen of Hyrule.
 * Heel Face Turn: Ghanti, who started off as a bandit before becoming Link's friend.
 * How Do You Like Them Apples: Link wants to be an apple farmer. Keeping with the imagery, he also gets a healing apple.
 * It Was With You All Along:  turn out to be the weapon they will need to defeat their enemy.
 * Love Triangle: Ghanti the bandit cites this as the reason for her reluctance to help Link rescue Zelda.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Ghanti's name can also be spelled "Ganty".
 * Stab the Sky: The Master Sword actually tells Link to do this after he draws it from its pedestal.
 * You Are What You Hate:
 * Your People Killed My Parents: Ghanti the bandit declares Link her enemy because he's the last of the Hylian knights, whom she has been raised to believe killed her parents. She's therefore surprised to find that
 * You Must Be Cold: Link wraps Zelda in his cloak to protect her from the rain when they escape from Hyrule Castle. She smiles and tells him that it's warm, prompting the first appearance of his recurring Luminescent Blush.
 * You Must Be Cold: Link wraps Zelda in his cloak to protect her from the rain when they escape from Hyrule Castle. She smiles and tells him that it's warm, prompting the first appearance of his recurring Luminescent Blush.

Oath of Lilto - Junya Furusawa
The Legend of Zelda: Oath of Lilto is a spin-off set in the Zelda universe around the time of A Link to the Past but staring original character Lilto and his friends with Link and Princess Zelda only having a small role in the story.


 * Canon Foreigner: All of the main characters including Lilto and his friends.
 * Demoted to Extra: Link and Zelda.
 * Dolled Up Installment: Although it's a Zelda manga, the art style is blatantly Dragon Quest.
 * Elsewhere Spin-off
 * Expanded Universe: This is pretty much the only official Zelda manga that isn't a direct adaptation of a game and tries to expand on the Zelda universe.
 * Expy: Lilto's character design is almost identical to Bianca's son from Dragon Quest V.

Ocarina of Time - Akira Himekawa
"Navi:"You sure are popular with the ladies. That's the third pretty young girl you've got!""
 * A Boy and His Horse: Link and Epona.
 * All Animals Are Dogs: Epona behaves much like a dog in this manga.
 * Bad Future: A key plot point in the Ocarina of Time manga.
 * Bishounen: Adult Link is depicted as this in the second part of Ocarina of Time.
 * Brainwashed:, on her own request.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:, compared to his canon game version where he was always evil.
 * Enigmatic Minion: Sheik
 * Evil Twin: Dark Link (obviously).
 * The Deku Tree gets his own evil counterpart, the Baga Tree, in a bonus story.
 * I Know You Are in There Somewhere Fight: Link's fight against Volvagia is presented as this.
 * Ship Tease: Link with just about every main female character in his age group: Saria, Zelda, Malon, Ruto (although he does seem to be leaning towards Zelda). Lampshaded by Navi:


 * Even Navi herself got some with him. Her last line is different from the games a bit, and seems to portray attraction, which is canon in the games.
 * Shoot the Dog:
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Zig-zagged with Malon. Though at first she refuses Link's rescue in favor of waiting for her idealized "Prince on a White Horse", throughout the rescue begins to wonder if Link is her prince. Just as she begins to consider romance with Link, Zelda is brought up, and Link's reaction makes it clear that his heart is set on Zelda. Instead of moping about it, she gives up on that train of thought and carries on with her life.
 * What Happened to The Mouse: The manga provides an explanation to what happened to the Fairy Ocarina that Saria gives Link. After Zelda tosses Link the Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf attacks Link and attempts to take the Ocarina of Time from him. However, he grabs the Fairy Ocarina by mistake, thinking it to be the Ocarina of Time. He breaks it when he realizes it was the wrong one.

Majora's Mask - Akira Himekawa

 * A Boy and His Horse: Link and Epona, again.
 * Baleful Polymorph: Link, when stuck in Deku form.
 * Big Eater: Link. Lampshaded by his host, who remarks that while he may have the battle skills of an adult, he still has the appetite of a child.
 * The Chessmaster/Manipulative Bastard: The Happy Mask Salesman is implied to have a little more to do with the events of the story than in the game.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Romani and Cremia; the Himekawa authors admit that they couldn't work them into the story, and include drawings of them at the end to make up for it.
 * Dead Person Impersonation: Link blunders through a few of these in order to give the souls whose masks he wears some peace.
 * Expecting Someone Taller: Boy, did those soldiers regret thinking a "kid" was weak.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Link returns to his normal form (after having become a Deku Scrub), he checks to make sure he's 100% back to normal. A shot from behind shows him apparently lifting up his tunic, and Tatl looks embarrassed and asks "what are you checking?!"
 * Ironic Transformation: Skull Kid turned Kafei into a child because Kafei (walking home from his bachelor party, late at night) turned down an invitation to play with the Skull Kid by saying "Kids like you should be in bed!"
 * Prequel: The Majora's Mask manga includes a bonus story illustrating the creation of the titular mask.
 * Ripple Effect Proof Memory: Link and Tatl are the only ones to experience it.
 * Shout Out: Mikau's grave has the epitaph,
 * This Is Unforgivable: Link's reaction to Majora's Mask vagabonding the Skull Kid after he said the mask was his only friend, calling him worthless and trying to kill him. To put this in perspective, Majora's Mask gives Link the Fierce Deity's Mask (going by it's Japanese name the "Oni Mask") and tells him to become the oni a game of tag (Japanese terms for someone being "it"), and he agrees to the idea without a second thought.
 * Tsundere: Tatl is a Type A example, as she was in the game.

Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages - Akira Himekawa

 * Ascended Extra: Maple the witch.
 * Badass: Link, obviously. Also his ancestor, Sir Raven.
 * Badass Grandpa: Link has one of these in the Oracle stories, who raised him and taught him swordplay.
 * Bishonen: Link's ancestor Sir Raven.
 * Book Ends: Oracle of Seasons begins with Link's grandfather explaining their family history and pointing to a portrait of Sir Raven. Oracle of Ages ends with Link's grandfather bringing up their family history again and Link looks at the portrait of Sir Raven again. However, as a result of Link's time travels, the portrait of Sir Raven has changed to look more heroic.
 * Canon Foreigner: Link's grandparents in both Oracle stories and Sir Raven in Oracle of Ages, just for starters.
 * Cute Witch: Maple in Oracle of Seasons.
 * Darker and Edgier: The Oracle of Ages manga adaptation may qualify.
 * Demonic Possession: Veran's specialty in Oracle of Ages.
 * Everything's Better With Cows: Oracle of Ages finds Link winning a competition so that he can send the prize cow home to his grandmother.
 * Expy: Raven, Link's ancestor, is one for adult Link form Ocarina of Time.
 * Heroes Want Redheads: Link has a massive crush on Din in Oracle of Seasons.
 * Interspecies Romance: Piyoko the chicken, in Oracle of Seasons, reveals herself to have romantic feelings for Link.
 * Love Makes You Susceptible to Evil: In Oracle of Ages, Veran had an easy time manipulating Queen Ambi because of her heartache and longing for her lost love.
 * Manly Tears: Ralph sheds one or two in Oracle of Ages after Link saves his life.
 * Marshmallow Hell: Link endures this with Impa.
 * My Own Grampa: At the end of Oracle of Ages, Link discovers that his actions in the past have
 * Ret Gone: Veran attempts to do this to Link by ordering the execution of his ancestor. Includes Link experiencing Delayed Ripple Effect dizzyness with his hand fading out like in Back to The Future (possible Shout Out?).
 * Ripple Effect Proof Memory: Everyone in Oracle of Ages seems to have it.
 * Sequel Hook: The ending of Oracle of Seasons, with plotting the events of Oracle of Ages.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: Link keeps saying this to Ricky the kangaroo about Din in Oracle of Seasons.
 * Stalker With a Crush: General Onox seems to be this to Din in Oracle of Seasons.
 * Team Pet: Piyoko the chicken in Oracle of Seasons.
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: It's implied that Ralph in Oracle of Ages hopes to be this for "my beloved Nayru," although it's not made clear whether he achieves this or Unlucky Childhood Friend.
 * You Monster: Link screams this to Onox in Oracle of Seasons after he kills Piyoko as a chick.

Four Swords - Akira Himekawa
"Blue: You three can call each other stupid nicknames! I'M Link! I'm the main Link, got it?
 * All There in the Manual: Why don't all four Link's colors match with the personalities associated with those colors? (Blue is normally a calm color, but Blue Link is anything but.) If you had read the author's note in the second volume Himekawa's Ocarina of Time manga (published 6 years before), you would know that the authors saw the computer-controlled Links of each color in Super Smash Bros as behaving the way the same color Link does in their Four Swords manga.
 * Canon Foreigner: Link's father. This is the only manga where Link's father is still alive.
 * The Chessmaster: Possibly Vio, though from Shadow Link's point of view, he probably seems more like a Manipulative Bastard.
 * Cloning Blues: Brought up occasionally in the beginning, while the four Links are still getting used to working as a team. Which leads to ...
 * Clone Originality Squabble: The newly-separated Links have an argument about which of them is the "original" Link. The scene would be a bit overly angsty if not for the fact that the entire thing is a Crowning Moment of Funny.

Green: If there's a main Link, it's me! Everyone knows Link dresses in green!

Blue: *Beat Panel*

Arrow Pointing to Blue's tunic: "Blue"

Blue: Rats!"

"Fairy: You did that on purpose! You're as mean as Blue!
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Done with a twist, given that the illustrations are all black and white; the colored Links are identified by their color in name only and address each other as Green, Red, Blue, and Vio (short for Violet -- the purple one).
 * Also, a different texture is used for each Link's tunic. (For more on how to tell them apart, see Twin Desynch below.)
 * In addition, there are differences in their eyes.
 * Cry Cute: Red, in frakking spades.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Red is DEFINITELY one of these.
 * Dark World: "The Shadow World"
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me: Shadow Link to Zelda.
 * Evil Twin: Shadow Link.
 * Also Blue, arguably.
 * Five Man Band:
 * The Hero: Green
 * The Lancer: Blue
 * The Smart Guy: Vio
 * The Chick: Red
 * Token Evil Teammate: Shadow
 * Foe Yay: Shadow and Vio. There's also at least a hint of it with Shadow and Zelda.
 * Heel Face Turn:.
 * Hilarity Ensues: Link taking the Four Sword splitting him into four Links with their own personalities, and each of them having just as much of an ego as him.
 * Literal Split Personality: Each Link supposedly represents a facet of Link's personality. In Vio's words, Green is focused and motivated, Blue is hotheaded and aggressive, Red is innocent and optimistic, and Vio is calm and collected.
 * Medium Awareness: Just one moment, after Red thaws out Blue with the Fire Rod - and scorches his rear:

Red: The readers expect me to get even... a little!"

"Shadow Link: There's a new Link in this chain!
 * Neat Freak: Blue is revealed to be one in an omake. He can't sleep at night unless he knows his clothes are neatly folded before he goes to bed.
 * Parental Abandonment: Partially subverted. We never see Link's mother but we do see his father...one of the plot important knights of Hyrule!
 * Punny Name/Incredibly Lame Pun: While Link's name is not meant to be a pun, it hasn't stopped the English translators of Four Swords from having some fun with it. Some examples:

Vio (about to duel Green): Green is about to learn who the weak Link is."


 * Reverse Mole/Fake Defector:
 * Sequel Hook: The ending of the first volume.
 * Ship Tease: The re-fused Link walks away from the Four Sword hand in hand with Zelda. It's also very subtly implied that Zelda was a mitigating factor in Shadow's Heel Face Turn.
 * Twin Desynch: Although he is meant to be a reflection/shadow of Link, Shadow looks very different from Link.
 * A non-evil-twin version of this is employed when Link later splits into four. You can tell each one apart by looking at their eyes and sleeves (a bit later), which are done differently.
 * Green has black sleeves, his eyes have two shiny spots, and he has prominent dark pupils and smaller white (or light grey) irises.
 * Red has white sleeves, eyes have one shiny spot (when he's not crying...), and his eyes are dark all over (like a puppy).
 * Blue has grey sleeves, two shiny spots in his eyes, and he has black pupils, smaller than Red's and Green's, with more of his white iris showing.
 * Vio has white sleeves, and depending on the scene, either one very small shiny spot in his eyes or none at all. In addition, his pupils are the smallest and sometimes even slit-like, and his white iris dominates majority of his eyes.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Shadow gets this when Green, Blue, and Red rescue Vio and all four defeat his Hinox henchmen.
 * Years Too Early: Stone Arrghus makes this taunt.

The Minish Cap - Akira Himekawa

 * Baleful Polymorph:
 * Chivalrous Pervert: When Link's tiny, he takes advantage of an opportunity to look up Anju's skirt. This nearly results in him getting crushed by bits of food she drops.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Ezlo
 * Lighter and Softer:
 * Mythology Gag: When Link first discovers the Picori world, the mimics a piece of the game's promotional art.
 * The elder Minish Librari is very proud of fighting a (to him) giant monstrous Cucco. Considering the general reputation that Cuccos have...
 * Rebellious Princess: Zelda always tries to escape from the castle to hang out with Link.
 * What Have I Become

Phantom Hourglass - Akira Himekawa
"Eddo's Garage Point Card (not in the video game)"
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Linebeck and Jolene and also Linebeck and Ciela.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Linebeck's Member Card for Eddo's:


 * Scenery Censor: Yes there is, involving Link. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds.
 * Tsundere: Tetra is arguably Type A of this trope.

The Wind Waker 4-koma
"King of Red Lions: "Is he smart or stupid? I don't know.""
 * Affectionate Parody: It's 4-koma for crying out loud.
 * The Ditz: Link. However, it's frequently subverted in that he's either a Genius Ditz or a Cloudcuckoolander. Lampshaded by a certain talking boat:


 * Heroic Mime: Used frequently.
 * Lighter and Softer
 * Running Gag: A surprising number of people think that "[Link's] clothes look uncomfortably warm ..."

Skyward Sword - Akira Himekawa

 * Darker and Edgier: Not so much the story but more so on the previous Link - quite possibly the first Link - who fought in the war against the demon king that's mentioned throughout the game. Pre-Skyloft Link is drawn with sharper features compared to current-Skyloft Link, as well having a slightly more grimmer outlook.
 * Named By the Adaptation: The Goddess's chosen hero who was unnamed in the game is named Link in the manga.