Dark Link: An incarnation of Links repression

(STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM! Uh..Yeah, so..You might wanna read this when you're bored. I warn you that it's very long. So if you get very bored, maybe you'll wanna read this or something. Just giving you a heads up that its long, though.)

Have you ever thought that Dark Link is really just Links repressed emotions? As the Hero Of Time, he is not permitted to feel typical human emotion that one would feel when enduring the tasks he does. I think its possible that Dark Link is an incarnation of said emotions. In Ocarina Of Time, Link is subjected to actual monsters that he has never seen before. From just the sight of a monster, one can develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was the case when Samus first confronted Ridley. She was traumatized by the very sight of Ridley. Of course, Ridley did make Samus an orphan..But just use your own imagination

As a child, Link is subject to bullying from the other Kokiri because of how different he is. And because Link is Hyrulean, I'm sure hes subject to physical changes the other Kokiri are not. Link does seem a little bit older then most of them. I know he's not a teenager, but could you imagine hitting puberty while others around you didn't? You'd have no idea what's happening to you. You'd think yourself to be an outcast, and a freak.

Links sanity is not a choice. It is expected of him to do the things he does, simply because he was born into it.

As a child, he is exposed to Gohma, King Dodongo, and perhaps the most gruesome(When you really think about the apparition) is Barinade. At a young age, he is exposed to murder, most of which he commits. Its not a murder of human beings, but its still murder. And then he is exposed to the decay of the Great Deku Tree(His guardian and friend, like he is to the other Kokiri). Lets not forget the dying soldier in the alley way.

War can turn someone cynical. Link may not be in an actual war, but being around death as a child could surely make him that way. Then think about the abandonment of a best friend(Saria), to fulfill the destiny that you were born into, and did not choose. Then its possible of Link having feelings towards Saria (Like a crush), but he never gets the chance to confess them because of said destiny.

When Link becomes an adult, its possible that the master sword eliminated his 'dark emotions' (A theory on Zelda wiki). But they could not be ultimately destroyed, and so they manifested themselves into Dark Link.

Bravery or not, I believe its possible that Link could be repressing all emotions that it's just normal for people to feel(Sadness, grief, anger)
Then there's Saria's farewell, which leads to a popular phrase "Never say goodbye to a friend on a bridge, because you'll never see them again."

Link never does see Saria again, except as an apparition (A sage). Then its possible that Link never DID let his negative emotions go. He repressed them all the way up to the Water Temple, when he faces Dark Link.
The tree that Dark Link stands by is dead. While it can symbolize the "good/bad" concept between them(Like Zelda Wiki suggests), it can also symbolize Links sense of loss. To be hid from the world for seven years, and see your childhood wash down the drain(Figuratively). You see Castle Town destroyed, Zoras Domain frozen, and monsters in Kokiri Forest (Until you defeat Phantom Ganon)

To 'protect and serve' is not an easy task. It affects your psyche, and most people do bad things because of it. I recall an article about soldiers in Afghanistan who posted pictures of them urinating on the dead bodies of troops they killed and seemingly having a 'blast'. Their general simply justified their actions by saying "War is hell."

Fortunately(But unfortunately for Link), Link has no way of channeling his emotions. All he can do is repress them.

I believe the fight against Dark Link in OOT can be a psychological war between Link and his own conscience. Notice that the more you hit Dark Link, the less transparent he becomes (In OOT3DS at least. I don't remember in OOT.) That could signify that Link is growing up, and his negative emotions are "seeping" out of him.

Anyway..Just something that I randomly came up with, when I was listening to the first seconds of 'Requiem Of A Dream' (Yeah, even I don't understand my logic.)

Eh, I just love psychology..

I don't think it's that deep. He's just a doppelgänger of Link. He's pretty much a recurring extra, frequently written into the game to allow Link to face off against a dark version of himself. Because of this, he doesn't have a particular origin; the developers make a new one up whenever they want to use him again.

It's called the theory section for a reason. I'm just adding a little backstory to Dark Link.

Originally Posted by Shadow Of Farore

It's called the theory section for a reason. I'm just adding a little backstory to Dark Link.

Which is exactly why this doesn't belong here. When you "add a little backstory" you are writing fanfiction, not theorizing.

Here, let me direct you to the right place:

Insert Fanfic Here

That is cool--however, I must say that he DOES see Saria again at least once. She teaches him her song, you remember.

Still, Link does get exposed to a lot of traumatizing things. If we were to say this theory were true, what, if anything, do you think happens when he defeats Dark Link?

Originally Posted by TurkeyMcBean

Which is exactly why this doesn't belong here. When you "add a little backstory" you are writing fanfiction, not theorizing.

Nah, if it was fanfiction, I would be making a narrative, which wouldn't consist of "I think". I'm not changing any scenarios here. I'm just going off on theorizing and speculation. If a mod has a problem with the category this is placed in, then let them handle it.

Originally Posted by MonochromeMarionette

what, if anything, do you think happens when he defeats Dark Link?

I almost forgot about Saria's Song. But I think when he defeats Dark Link, that is when he's basically absolved of all his repressed grief, and suffering, which grants him just one step closer to being the "Hero Of Time". Imagine it like its a test..A psychological challenge, much like Luke's duel with Darth Vader when hes on Dagobah and learning to become a Jedi. Luke fails this test by striking Vader, and utterly destroying him.

Notice how Navi says "Conquer yourself". Not "Defeat the apparition", "Kill the shadow", or anything else along those terms. "Conquer yourself". That is psychologically a term that's used a lot. Often times, we are beat down by negative impulses and demotivated by our bad feelings. This would make it more plausible that Dark Link is like an incarnation of Link's torment. The dead tree, like I mentioned..It symbolizes the death of purity and innocence, which is what Link grew up with (Well, save for all the monsters he had to defeat.) It would be like growing up in a nice suburban neighborhood with the most kindest neighbors, and then you go back seven years later and what do you see? Ghettos and foreclosed homes (I speak out of real life experience, too).

As for his placement in the water temple..Well, if anybody agrees with me or finds interest, then maybe you guys could come up with some symbolism? It'd seem more reasonable for Dark Link to appear maybe in the Forest Temple, or even the Lost Woods.(Being that its Links childhood home).

Originally Posted by Shadow Of Farore

As for his placement in the water temple..Well, if anybody agrees with me or finds interest, then maybe you guys could come up with some symbolism? It'd seem more reasonable for Dark Link to appear maybe in the Forest Temple, or even the Lost Woods.(Being that its Links childhood home).

While most of the temple itself is not evocative of such things, water is often regarded as a symbol of rebirth, renewal, or healing. Then there's the more obvious 'cleansing'.

I think TurkeyMcBean may have a small point about the fanfiction there. But, never mind that; about that Water Temple.

Water is reflective, just as a mirror is. If you've ever played Kid Icarus: Uprising, there is a level where Pit faces off against the Goddess of Calamity, Pandora, in order to break the Underworld Army's greatest weapon: the Mirror of Truth. If you were to stand in front of this mirror, a "copy" of yourself would be made, albeit this copy of yourself would be your "true" self. Before Pit has the chance to completely destroy the mirror, a copy of himself is made, and instead of regular ol' Pit coming out, Dark Pit emerges.

What does this say about Pit, do you think? Of course, it could have just been that the mirror was actually designed so that it created an evil copy of whatever stood before its reflection -- but it could also be that Pit himself, having seen the wrath of war (similarly to Link) and having to deal with the fact that he is an angel that cannot fly without the aid of the Goddess of Light has some repressed emotions, himself. When he saw his reflection, the truth about himself emerged -- and if I remember correctly, the room in which Link faces off against Dark Link is covered in water, forcing Link to see his own reflection everywhere he goes. In that sense:

If Dark Link is really the incarnation of Link's "repressed" emotions, then it would make sense for his placement to be in the Water Temple because of the reflective trait of water. When Link looks at Dark Link, he is essentially looking into a mirrored version of his inner, darker self. Facing off (or "conquering" himself, as Navi puts it) against himself, he forced to come to terms with his true self, and at the same time, he is forced to overcome the side of him that isn't hero-like. If what you said is true, and every time you hit Dark Link he becomes less transparent, then it could be said that Link is severing his dark emotions from himself while they manifest into their own, separate entity -- the increasing opacity signifies this.

Though I doubt any of you have seen it (it is an extremely underrated movie, despite being my favorite film of all time), the movie Mirrormask actually has a story that is remarkably similar to what it is you're saying Dark Link is -- that is, an incarnation of Link's own repressed emotions. In the movie, the main character (Helena) has a fight with her mother, and shortly afterwards, her mother falls ill, causing Helena to feel like the event is her fault entirely. Not long after, Helena stumbles out of her room in the middle of the night until she finds that she has somehow wound up in a strange new world that, for some reason, seems all too familiar (it is later discovered that she has stumbled into a realm composed of her drawings, which she has posted around her room). In this realm, Helena is mistakenly accused of being a princess that hails from the Dark Lands, and she is taken to the Palace of Light, where she discovers that their queen has been put into a slumber by someone that supposedly looks exactly like Helena herself. This "shadow princess", along with putting the queen to sleep, also took with her the only thing that could be used to wake the queen: the Mirrormask.

Long story short, Helena and Valentine (someone she meets shortly after entering the realm) spend the entire movie looking for the Mirrormask, which they eventually find hidden within a mirror in the princess' room in the Dark Palace. How she gets in is actually kind of funny; the Queen of Shadows wants her daughter back, and since she can't have the real thing, she takes Helena is, and transforms her to look just like her daughter. This is that scene:



With the aid of the Mirrormask, Helena brings the real shadow princess (who had originally used the Mirrormask to get to the real world, and was taking Helena's place, wreaking havoc as a sort of evil copy) back to Helena's realm of drawings, and she is brought back home. At the moment Helena makes it home, the Light Queen is shown to have awakened, and shortly after, it is discovered that Helena's mom is going to be just fine.

If you dig deep into the symbolism of the story, you can say that the Light Queen represented Helena's mom, Helena was just plain Helena, the Queen of Shadows was how Helena sometimes viewed her mother (as being a tyrant; you could say she was "Dark Helena's Mom"), and Dark Helena represented real Helena's desire to get out of her circus lifestyle (her father runs a circus, which she is forced to be a part of) and enter the "real" world. In the beginning of the movie, Helena says to her mother that she wants to escape from the circus and enter the real world, though her mother ensures her that she wouldn't be able to handle real life. At the end of the movie, Dark Helena says to Helena (through a drawn window) that she wants to live in the real world, away from her dictator of a mother -- and much like Helena's mother said to Helena, real Helena told Dark Helena that she wouldn't be able to handle real life, and moments after, she put on the Mirrormask, and everything was made better. The movie focuses centrally around the everlasting battle between good and evil, light and dark. Though it is never made clear as to whether or not Helena's entire adventure was just a dream or not, one thing is made very clear: in order to wake the Light Queen (in real terms, in order to save her mother, and to overcome her guilt), Helena had to face off against an evil shadow of herself -- using a type of mirror, no less.

Let's get this entire thing straight here:

Link ---> Water Temple ---> Dark Link
Pit ---> Mirror of Truth ---> Dark Pit
Helena ---> Mirrormask ---> Dark Helena

You see a recurring theme, don't you? In all three cases, the middle item (though not necessarily a mirror) is reflective; as I said before, this is particularly made clear in the room where Link faces off against Dark Link, as water fills the entire room, splashing noises following you wherever you go. It may be a pure coincidence that Dark Link was placed in the Water Temple; then again, it may not, and the developers may be more absorbed in underlying meaning than many think they are.

TL;DR: Water is reflective.

...or maaaybe Dark Link was a magical guardian put in place by Ganondorf.

Just sayin'.

Have you ever thought that Dark Link is really just Links repressed emotions? As the Hero Of Time, he is not permitted to feel typical human emotion that one would feel when enduring the tasks he does.

So...you're saying Link didn't feel any kind of emotion when he witnessed the Great Deku Tree die? Or when he was had to leave his best friend Saria? Or when finally found Princess Zelda only to have her captured by Ganondorf?

I doubt that.

In Ocarina Of Time, Link is subjected to actual monsters that he has never seen before.

So was almost everyone else in Hyrule.

As a child, Link is subject to bullying from the other Kokiri because of how different he is

No he wasn't. Not by all the Kokiri. Just Mido. Everyone else liked Link.

Link never does see Saria again, except as an apparition (A sage).

Then there's Saria's farewell, which leads to a popular phrase "Never say goodbye to a friend on a bridge, because you'll never see them again."

The fact that he does in fact see her again "apparition" or not debunks this.

Besides how do you know it was really a "apparition"?

Then think about the abandonment of a best friend(Saria), to fulfill the destiny that you were born into, and did not choose. Then its possible of Link having feelings towards Saria (Like a crush), but he never gets the chance to confess them because of said destiny.

One problem, Saria didn't abandon Link, he was the one who left. She even gave Link her Ocarina as a memento to cement their friendship. She even said that she hopes Link would come back someday and that if Link plays her song they can talk to each other. That's not abandonment.

I'm gonna agree with TurkeyBean with this one. There's too much thinking here to the point where its almost straight up fan-fiction.


Besides, none of this explains Shadow Links' appearances in AoL(which was his first appearance).

Guys, its like I said..Let a mod handle it. Though I don't see the "fan fiction" resemblance. This sections for theorizing, so I'm making a theory that Dark Link is an incarnation of Links negative emotions. But whatever. I suck at categorizing.

Great post, Kairai. I think I might look into that movie you mentioned. It gives me a subtle reminder of Alice in Wonderland. I certainly see the whole 'reflection' thing you're talking about. I haven't played A Link to the Past. Its on the Eshop, isn't it? Or is that Links Awakening..?

An apparition is a ghost or an entity. A spirit. That's what the sages are. They aren't necessarily human anymore. Even Link wasn't bullied, I imagine there might be some people who would find him odd. Think of it like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. People are polite to her, and friendly..But behind her back, they talk about how weird she is for having her nose in a book all the time.

I'm not trying to state any facts here. It's all just theorizing, like countless others have done before me.

Just have some sympathy towards the little guy. Hyrule may see monsters, but they don't actually fight them. The guards do. Sure. But Links the one who actually defeats them. He's only a 12 year old boy (On Zelda Wiki, some say 9 to 12). It just doesn't seem all that good for his psyche.

Just look at Batman. He's a complete wreck (Mostly because of his parents death, but then there's the association of crime fighting). One of the reasons Batman is my favorite is because he's dark. Its not about what he wants, or what he likes. It's about what's 'right'. And the right things don't make everybody happy.

Link has a crappy life. A very crappy life. But thank God he's not a cynical stone cold guy like Niko Bellic.

Even Link wasn't bullied, I imagine there might be some people who would find him odd.

Prove it.

Just have some sympathy towards the little guy. Hyrule may see monsters, but they don't actually fight them. The guards do. Sure. But Links the one who actually defeats them. He's only a 12 year old boy (On Zelda Wiki, some say 9 to 12). It just doesn't seem all that good for his psyche.

There's no way of telling Link's emotions at all in OoT. So how can you be sure?

I find this thread to be leaning more on the theorizing side of things than fan fiction.

So it's fine by me.




I ask that you don't bash the OP for writing "fan fiction" from now on thanks.

Hrrrggghrrmmm...

AH!

I GOT IT!

In real life, water acts as a distortion device and as a mirror. The water in the Water Temple, therefore, REFLECTS Link's soul, and DISTORTS it. This results in the negative apparation known as Dark Link.

Its the same for the Dark Link found in the Spirit Temple--the mirror REFLECTS and DISTORTS (mirrors in real life reflect images backwards).

And anyway, the Water Temple in general seems to have a theme of cleansing and healing. By defeating this corrupted apparation of his inner self, Link is effectively conquering his fears.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

I find this thread to be leaning more on the theorizing side of things than fan fiction.

So it's fine by me.




I ask that you don't bash the OP for writing "fan fiction" from now on thanks.

My apologies to you and SoF. You're right, I was being a bit of a jerk. It was actually a well-written and well-thought out post. I don't agree with it, but there was a better way to express my disagreement.

Ooo, nice, a new Dark Link theorizing thread!
As for your theory, I get what you're saying but I don't think that's what Dark Link is. I think that Dark Link from OoT is just another challenge of the Water Temple. When Link walks past the island in Dark Link's room, his reflection disappears. I believe the room took the reflection and made it into a separate entity.

Its the same for the Dark Link found in the Spirit Temple

...

There is no Dark Link in the Spirit Temple.

And anyway, the Water Temple in general seems to have a theme of cleansing and healing. By defeating this corrupted apparation of his inner self, Link is effectively conquering his fears.

Where in the Water Temple does it show a "theme of cleansing and healing"?

Omigod that post I wrote is so long.

I don't know where I found the time to write it.

Or the motivation, for that matter.

Maybe Dark Link isn't an incarnation of Link's repressed emotions. Maybe Dark Link is just all of the inner dark thoughts that Link sometimes has but is too ashamed to admit he ever thought them to begin with.

Maybe.

Originally Posted by keyaki

...

There is no Dark Link in the Spirit Temple.



Where in the Water Temple does it show a "theme of cleansing and healing"?

You have to clean out the Water Temple, purifying it of Morpha's evil. And water generally equals cleansing.

Also, I'm sorry about the Spirit Temple bit. I never bothered to play Ocarina of Time all the way through, so I get confused sometimes.

You have to clean out the Water Temple, purifying it of Morpha's evil. And water generally equals cleansing.

You have to do that with every other temple as well. Still doesn't show a theme of "cleansing".