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Is Dark Link Really Demise?

TattooArtist

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Dark Link is a re-occurring character throughout the Legend of Zelda series. Of course, it's a mirror image of Link - just only a evil version. He tends to be a boss or mini boss (sub-boss). But, even though Dark Link takes the form of Link, there is a theory that is he actually Demise.

First, let's look at the history of Demise. Demise had his first appearance in Skyward Sword from 2011. His affiliation is of course the demon tribe and he is the main and final boss in Skyward Sword. He is the demon king who is "vicious and lacking in compassion, comparing mortals as being weak." - Fandom Wikia. He has an incredible amount of power, likely more than Link considering his sword is literally a re-occurring boss Ghirahim - "He possesses great physical strength and agility, as well as mastery with swords." - Zeldapedia who is hard to defeat. Demise was sealed by Hylia but he broke that seal and came back as The Imprisoned twice. This of course proves how powerful he is.

Going back to the theory, Demise's appearance and Dark Link's appearance are key evidence to why Dark Link may be Demise or linked to Demise. Both of there main colours is black. The colour black represents power, death and evil. This most definitely suites Demise and Dark Link. Demise's eyes are red with a yellow iris and Dark Links eyes are red. The colour red represents blood, danger and strength. Both Demise and Dark Link are thirsty for blood, strength and power. This concludes these two characters are indeed evil on the same level as each other and both have the same lusts.

The word Demise refers to the end of something, usually a life. The word Dark refers to the absence of light. When people die for a moment but are then brought back to life, people have claimed to have "seen the light". The reason why people say this is possibly because they are being reincarnated to someone else and that light is what they see when they are first being born. But of course, when people are dead, there isn't a light. Demise is a demon who wants to end Links life so he can have power. Demise, is the cause of the absence of the light. Dark Link wants to end Links life as well as Demise, for power. Dark Link is another cause of the absence of the light. Light represents the complete opposite of dark, it has many meanings from Heaven (hence the colour of angels) and how the moons light shines in the dark, fading it away. This concludes these two characters have the same hatred for the Hero of time and would happily get rid of "lightness".

The theory is, When Demise was defeated he was sealed directly into the Master Sword, where his remaining form would be completely purged from existence. BUT the theory states Demise wasn't completely gone and Link's evil essence mixed with the impure soul when the Master Sword was touched Ocarina of Time.

What do you think?

Sources -
The Gamer
Zeldapedia
Google ofc
Wikia


 

Jirohnagi

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It's been stated numerous times that Ganondorf is Demises incarnation, which y'know kinda fits with the whole theme of three virtues zelda games have. Dark Link was once a dungeon boss created to guard the Triforce of courage then got demoted into miniboss. A literal reflection of link at that time then he got turned into a common as much foe that popped up everywhere in Fourswords adventure. We haven't seen hide no hair of him since.
 

Ryuken

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No hard feelings. :sword:

Going back to the theory, Demise's appearance and Dark Link's appearance are key evidence to why Dark Link may be Demise or linked to Demise. Both of there main colours is black. The colour black represents power, death and evil. This most definitely suites Demise and Dark Link. Demise's eyes are red with a yellow iris and Dark Links eyes are red. The colour red represents blood, danger and strength. Both Demise and Dark Link are thirsty for blood, strength and power. This concludes these two characters are indeed evil on the same level as each other and both have the same lusts.
latest

edgeworth-thinking(a).gif

Red and black do not a person make. I've seen colors being used to make connections like this in many theories, and unless it's a major plot point or intentional design choice, I honestly find it weak as evidence. Anyway, if these two beings really have the same motives, why would Demise reincarnate into the form of the one person who killed him? This will become a problem later in this theory.
The word Demise refers to the end of something, usually a life. The word Dark refers to the absence of light. When people die for a moment but are then brought back to life, people have claimed to have "seen the light". The reason why people say this is possibly because they are being reincarnated to someone else and that light is what they see when they are first being born. But of course, when people are dead, there isn't a light. Demise is a demon who wants to end Links life so he can have power. Demise, is the cause of the absence of the light. Dark Link wants to end Links life as well as Demise, for power. Dark Link is another cause of the absence of the light. Light represents the complete opposite of dark, it has many meanings from Heaven (hence the colour of angels) and how the moons light shines in the dark, fading it away. This concludes these two characters have the same hatred for the Hero of time and would happily get rid of "lightness".
edgeworth-pointing(b).gif

This is a strange connection to make. Here, "absence of light," is used as an interpretation for death and that both these characters wish for the death of Link. The problem with this is that Demise is a demon king while Dark Link is a doppelganger. In Demise's eyes, Link is an annoyance he must remove from the equation in order to conquer the land while in Dark Link's... he's just an enemy/intruder he must dispatch. In fact, this brings up another problem with this theory: assuming that Dark Link's motives are the same as Demise's. Dark Link, like Link, has no verbal dialogue, so we can't really dive too much into his character. That silent trait about Dark Link will become important very soon.
The theory is, When Demise was defeated he was sealed directly into the Master Sword, where his remaining form would be completely purged from existence. BUT the theory states Demise wasn't completely gone and Link's evil essence mixed with the impure soul when the Master Sword was touched Ocarina of Time.
latest

edgeworth-objection.gif

A theory that goes against in-game information won't hold much water.
Fi: I have confirmed the eradication of the
demon king.


His residual consciousness has been
absorbed into the Master Sword...
and is now sealed away.
Impa: The last remnants of Demise are
decaying slowly within the sword.
Someone must stay behind to watch
over this blade.
His spirit must not reawaken.
He must never be allowed to threaten
the world again.
Demise was sealed inside the Master Sword, and as far as we know, the last of his existence died within the darkness-sealing sword after Impa kept watch over it for hundreds of years. Now let's suppose that a bit of Demise survived until Ocarina of Time. In order for Link's evil essence to be put into the Master Sword, he'd have to pull some Kingdom Hearts-level absurdity where he seperates his "evil essence" from himself and then sealed that into the Master Sword since, well, that's the only way to get any dark force inside. Of course, we do not see any evidence of that in Skyward Sword or OoT. And as Shironagi has brought up, this contradicts not only with the established representation of Courage, Wisdom, and Power, but also the final events of Skyward Sword.

Demise taking the form of a hero who defeated him, a silent doppelganger carrying the same motives as a demon king, and a logic leap that contradicts in-game facts tells me this: it's more likely that Dark Link is an entity created to mimic Link and to test him rather than a reincarnation of a Demon King harboring revenge against him. That's more suited for Ganondorf/Ganon, don't you think?
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
There's no real evidence of Dark Link's origins... for all we know each appearance of his could have a completely different origin... but it's still fun to speculate.

Personally, I like to tie him into a theory I have about the different realms, where the golden goddesses created each of the worlds to be almost identical, but with a slight difference, which ultimately resulted in very different outcomes.
The twilight realm is the one we know the least about, seeing as all we see of it is the Palace of Twilight, and it's only known residents are the Twili, who it is implied were not originally from there... but the interlopers being represented as Dark Links does suggest a possible connection, and in OoT Dark Link appears from a reflection, which could be seen as a parallel to the Mirror of Twilight.
If we look back to the Skyward Sword prequel manga, we see that the original Link had been falsely imprisoned after being framed, and it was only after Demise killed the true culprit that he was released and asked for help... Link could have easily turned them down at this point and even sided with Demise... which may have been what happened in the twilight realm... Hylia would have been defeated, the land fell to darkness, and Demise possibly rewarded Link for his help by turning him into Dark Link.
This would explain the apparent connection to Demise, without it being the same person.
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Dark Link appears to have no motive other than to act as test/obstacle to Link. In Zelda II you face him before you obtain the Triforce of Courage and in Ocarina of Time before you get the Longshot. I think it's more along the lines of over coming your own fears/darkness, "facing yourself" in physical form. Hylia gets passed through Zelda, Hero's Spirit through Link, and Demise through Ganon is the way I've taken it since Skyward Sword.
 

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