Manga / The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016)

"There, there...don't despair, wolf. Depending on your attitude…I might be able to help."

— Midna

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and the tenth entry of The Legend of Zelda (Akira Himekawa).

Link is a capable newcomer to Ordon Village, earning the trust of the community and the affection of Ilia, the mayor's daughter. But when a wave of Twilight sweeps across Hyrule, turning Link into a wolf, the would-be-hero must accept the help of the imp Midna as he battles the forces of evil, as well as his own inner demons.

Originally released digitally from February 8, 2016, to January 30, 2022, via the app MangaONE, the chapters were compiled into eleven physical volumes. VIZ Media released the English adaptation from 2017 to 2023. Compared to previous Zelda adaptations done by Himekawa, Twilight Princess features more changes and a much larger Adaptation Expansion.

Warning: This page contains unmarked spoilers for the original game. You have been warned.

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The Twilight Princess manga features the following examples:

• 11th-Hour Ranger:
  • King Bulblin sticks true to his ethos and fights in The Siege of Hyrule Castle Town on Link's side.
  • In another departure from the game, the Hero's Shade manifests alongside Link in the final duel against Ganondorf.
• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: While Link and Ilia seem to hold mutual feelings in the beginning, Ilia's amnesia and the broadening scope of Link's quest start pulling their attention elsewhere. Even a touching reunion can't quite salvage what they had, as whatever romantic affections Link may have held for her seem to have shifted to Midna. In the epilogue, Ilia is seen waiting in vain at the bridge for Ordon for Link to return, though she looks quite happy to welcome Shad instead when he shows up in Link's place.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Evil cannot touch the Master Sword, so striking most monsters with it parts their flesh and bones like the Red Sea.
• Accidental Aiming Skills: During the battle against Argorok, Shad tries to throw Link the fallen Master Sword. It bounces off a metal grate and hits an Aeralfos in the chest.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism:
  • Getting the Master Sword goes to Link's head, and he starts getting bloodthirsty. Eventually, the Master Sword starts rejecting him, starting by manifesting Dark Link.
  • Zant used to be nothing more than a pathetic and overly ambitious servant to the the Twilight King and, later, Midna. Ganondorf's decision to grant him a fraction of his power led him to conquer the Twilight Realm and Hyrule in a display of utter megalomania.
• Act of True Love:
  • Each Link is born with the explicit purpose of saving Hyrule and protecting Zelda. So when Link turns his sword against the kingdom he's born to protect after its soldiers threaten to kill Midna, it shows that he's willing to go against his own destiny if it means protecting her. Link even tells Auru that he'll accept any punishment they want to give him, whether that's a beating, banishment, or even execution, if siding with the Twilight Realm is such a great sin.
  • At the end of the manga, Midna is ready to return to the Twilight Realm and sever the connection between the two realms to protect them both. Link refuses to see this as a goodbye and insists on going with Midna to the Twilight Realm, again shirking his destiny as Hyrule's protector and chosen Hero just so he can be with her. However, Midna refuses to let him do this, giving him a Last Kiss before shoving him to the ground and leaving before he can regain his footing.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: The overall beats—and even some individual shots—remain the same, but the manga adds a Big Damn Kiss between Link and Midna before their final parting, as well as a Maybe Ever After for Shad and Ilia.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: Link's pre-Ordon origins are elaborated upon, explaining how a Farm Boy would be so handy with a sword by revealing he isn't really a Farm Boy—he was an aspiring knight-in-training who backed out of the Call to Adventure after it destroyed his hometown to answer the Call to Agriculture two years before the story begins.
• Adaptational Context Change: Since manga Link isn't a Heroic Mime, “What? Say something! Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?” is no longer a joke Leaning on the Fourth Wall. Instead, it's made a Call-Back to when Link stunned her speechless in much the same way.
• Adaptation Expansion: The manga adds more details.
  • The first chapter shows the corpse of Midna's father, the members of the Twili's parliament, and how Zant usurped the throne.
  • Much of it is original to the manga, like a new town and Link coming to Ordon two years ago rather than growing up there.
  • Minor characters such as Shad and the monkey leader Ook have been given backstories.
  • Zelda and Midna are revealed to have communicated with each other for a time as children and became friends.
  • A flashback shows how Ilia escaped the Bulblins; after losing his first fight with Link, King Bulblin barged into her cabin. Delirious from his wounds, he passed out and gave her a chance to run.
  • Connections to Ocarina of Time are much more apparent, with flashbacks and cameos calling back to it.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Despite Zant not showing up in the Arbiter's Grounds to revive Stallord, the monster still has the Scimitar of Twilight in his head.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • In the game, Luda is a side character who stays in Kakariko Village for the entirety of the story, and with whom you can talk only if you deviate from your quest. Here, she follows Link to the Death Mountain (braving the no-humans policy) she can see Midna in her shadow form, and she stands in front of Fyrus to make him remember who he is with words. Even if it doesn't succeed, it's a brave move nonetheless.
  • While Ashei was reported to be a trained swordswoman in the game, her manga counterpart can catch Link himself off guard and later pulls a Diagonal Cut on two Darkhammers.
• Adaptational Comic Relief: Shad is portrayed as an awkward and bumbling Hopeless Suitor towards Ilia. Nevertheless, he is even more helpful to Link than his game counterpart.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Midna's true form appears and is named in the prologue.
  • The Golden Wolf appears in the prologue as a friend of Midna's.
• Adaptational Heroism: In the game, Argorok is an evil dragon that terrorizes the City in the Sky. His manga counterpart was a benevolent guardian before being corrupted by the Mirror of Twilight. When Link removes it, the dragon returns to normal.
• Adaptational Secrecy Downgrade: In the original game, the Title Drop is first used by Midna to mock Zelda (being a princess held captive in the Twilight Realm), before it's revealed that Midna is the actual princess of the Twilight Realm, and her true form is visible for all of two scenes at the very end of the game. In this manga, Midna's very first on-panel appearance has her appear in her true form and state her title.
• Adaptational Seriousness: In the game, Agitha is one of the rare humans who's not scared of Link in his wolf form. Here, both of them meet in Castle Town streets on a dark night, and she's scared of him as he carries an injured Midna on his back, believing he killed her.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Several characters' pasts are more closely tied together than they were in the game.
  • Before Midna found Link, Midna was served by the Golden Wolf, as the Hero of Time traveled to the Twilight Realm after death to keep an eye on Ganondorf.
  • Midna and Zelda had an intense childhood friendship cut short by a misguided Auru.
  • Auru was previously Zelda's tutor.
• Adapted Out: Ilia recovers her memory much earlier than in the game, with the Hidden Village (and Impaz) gone entirely. The Zora village is also skipped entirely, as is the subplot of restoring water to Lake Hylia.
• After-Action Healing Drama: After Link is rejected by the Master Sword and nearly killed by Zant, the Hero's Shade drops him off at a barn to recover under the care of the less-than-enthusiastic Anika. Being stuck in a makeshift hay bed wracked with constant pain, pneumonia, painful cauterization treatments, fever dreams, and his own violent self-loathing. When the Hero's Shade finally returns to check in on him, Link is almost disappointed he isn't Death finally here to put him out of his misery.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Subverted. Despite mysteriously showing up a year and a half ago and bearing a number of characteristics clearly marking him as an outsider, up to an including a mark showing he's Claimed by the Supernatural, no one has trouble accepting Link as a natural part of Ordon... except for Link himself, who thinks they should shun an Unwitting Instigator of Doom such as himself. Thus, he often fishes for any hint that other villagers find him strange or alien. Once a single villager seemingly confirms his fears amidst a series of bad omens, he freaks out and bolts into the woods, forcing Rusl to chase him down and talk some sense into him.
• Ambiguously Absent Parents: Link's parents are never mentioned despite his Adaptational Backstory Change, even when Link discovers his Doomed Hometown in the Twilight Realm.
• Amplifier Artifact: Link can draw upon the power of the Master Sword to augment his physical capabilities and reflexes, a power which, along with allowing him to clear over twenty feet In a Single Bound or enter Bullet Time, feels extremely good. He is not very responsible with this, so the Master Sword cuts it off before rejecting him entirely when he fails to get the hint. He uses it far more sparingly after his recovery, signing up for another round of Training from Hell so he doesn't have to rely on it.
• Am I Just a Toy to You?: Link is hardly oblivious to Midna's physical attraction, but he also takes her at her word that he's a plaything she'll eventually discard. So when she does start openly showing concern for his well-being, it only feeds into this insecurity of outliving his usefulness and leads him to double down on proving his worth.
• An Arm and a Leg: Link loses his left arm, but unlike most examples, it does get re-attached again due to the sacred spring with Ordona's help.
• And Show It to You: Wolf Link defeats Dark Beast Ganon by burrowing his way through the monster’s body and tearing his way out with the heart in his teeth.
• Anywhere but Their Lips: Link gives a weakened Midna a peck on the cheek before leaving to fight Ganondorf.
• Ascended Extra:
  • In the game, while a main character, Zelda was largely Out of Focus in comparison to Link and Midna, and it was largely suggested she also transferred her soul inside of Midna along with her power to keep Midna alive. In the manga, she is still sentient after transferring a part of her power into Midna and receives more focus as a character, which details her friendship with Midna as children, her forced tea time with Ganondorf who rants about his connections with Link and Zelda, and her connection to the Hero of Time through her ancestor.
  • In the game, the Hero's Shade only appeared in an optional sidequest to teach players special moves, and his history and connection to Link are only vaguely alluded to or extant in materials outside the game. Here, he's upgraded to a major supporting role as The Mentor, his identity as the Hero of Time is made explicit, and he participates in the final battle against Ganondorf.
• Ascended Fridge Horror: The existentially horrifying implications of being a god-chosen Eternal Hero in an equally Eternal Recurrance have not gone lost on Link and disturb him enough that he briefly considers sparing Ganondorf to spare future generations the misery of a cosmic Forever War, though Ganondorf denies him the opportunity out of spite and opts to do himself in instead.
• As Long as There Is Evil: During the final battle, Ganondorf questions why Link should bother fighting him at all, reasoning that he will come back time and time again, no matter how often he loses. The Hero’s Shade counters that while that is true, there’s also an inversion that there will always be a hero to keep the fight going.
• Back from the Dead: Ordona revives Link and reattaches his arm after King Bulblin kills him.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Some of Link's nude body is shown in chapter 9, although, not much. Like in the game, Midna also doesn't show anything.
• Bathtub Bonding: Though, for Link and Midna, "bonding" consists of Link only semi-successfully trying to relax in the Goron springs while Midna laughs menacingly just to let him know she's still in his shadow and can see everything.
• Beast and Beauty: It's a Roadtrip Romance between a callous princess-turned-gremlin and the bishounen Chosen One she designated her Human Pet. And while Link may have a couple of beastly qualities of his own, he serves much more as Midna's ennobling eye candy than the other way around.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: When the Hero's Shade interrogates him regarding his past screwups, Link admits that he pulled the Gaurof Sword because being a legendary, god-chosen hero sounded pretty awesome. He has learned otherwise.
• Betty and Veronica: Ilia (Betty) and Midna (Veronica) for Link, like in the game. In addition, Shad and Link respectively become the Betty and Veronica for Ilia.
• Big-Hearted Bigfoot: Yeto is endlessly hospitable towards humans and invites Link to have dinner at their (or, more accurately, Ashei's) Big Fancy House for dinner with his wife the moment they meet. It's enough to make Link forget he was almost that dinner until Yeto mentions the mysteriously vanished wolf he was going to add to his soup...
• Bittersweet Ending: Thanks to the combined efforts of Link, Midna, Zelda, and the Hero’s Shade, Ganondorf is dead and the Light World and the Twilight Realm are both saved from his tyranny. However, this isn't the end of Ganondorf as he will come back in the future as a reincarnation. Meanwhile Midna and Link, after falling in love with each other over the course of the manga, have to be separated from each other due to the fact the Twili are not allowed to live in the Light World. That said, both of them have grown considerably as people, with Midna becoming much more selfless and compassionate and Link finally being at peace with himself after struggling to find a purpose with his life.
• Black Cloak: Link is shown to have worn a black hooded cloak, although he's a wanderer who accidentally sent his town to the Twilight Realm rather than anything malign. He's stopped wearing it in the present day.
• Blessed with Suck: The Triforce of Courage seems to screw Link over more often than it helps. First, it lets him pull the Gaurof Sword out of its stone and thus completely wipe his hometown off Hyrule's map. Then he learns that Dark Link's manifestation was the result of the Triforce reacting to and materializing what would have otherwise been a mere case of belated but otherwise perfectly ordinary Chuunibyou. He likewise finds his wolf transformation when entering the Twilight extremely limiting and would much rather have opposable thumbs.
• Blood Is the New Black: Link is absolutely drenched in Dark Beast Ganon's blood after defeating him, even after reverting to his human form. And then he realizes he has to introduce himself (as a human) to the sovereign ruler of Hyrule looking like this. Zelda takes it in good humor, at least.
  Zelda: Raise your head.
  Link: No. My face is filthy.
  Zelda: As befits the fierce but noble beast that saved me, so I am thankful to see it.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Quite! Ganondorf's skin and flesh are even stripped off his bones when he's banished.
• Blood-Splattered Innocents: Ilia is held up by King Bulblin's almost cut clean off arm, causing him to bleed over Ilia, whose wrist is also bleeding from being held so tight. Fortunately, she was passed out at the time.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: The Hero's Shade tells Link this when he finally decides he wants to call quits. He's stuck in fate's Eternal Recurrance whether he likes it or not, and fate's perfectly fine with razing another hometown to make him play his part.
• The Cameo: The King of Hyrule appears to personally sentence Ganondorf to death.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • Link's fellow trainees, Darpa, Rioma, and Zeu are among the many canon foreigners introduced, such as Mayor Grisna who heads the Rufurio family that rules Link's hometown.
  • Link's overconfidence and Blood Knight attitude manifest as Dark Link, who didn't appear in the game except in a Disney Acid Sequence cutscene. Its appearance also resembles the Dark Link color scheme from Super Smash Bros. (which used Twilight Princess as the base for its Zelda characters in Brawl and for 3DS/Wii U), as well as Cia exploiting Link's overconfidence with the Master Sword in Hyrule Warriors.
• Chased Off into the Sunset: The manga ends much like the games, with Link riding into Faron Woods to return the Master Sword. But just as he's about to leave, he spots the Golden Wolf watching him, smiles, and follows the wolf deeper into the forest.
• Cherry Blossoms: Ilia's recollections of Link are always accompanied by floating sakura petals. Sure enough, their feelings appear to have been transient on both sides.
• Chic and Awe: Midna's so blindsided by Link's human appearance that it inspires her Signature Line of the game^note “What? Say something! Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?”. And also distracts her long enough for Rays from Heaven to set her on fire.
• Claimed by the Supernatural: Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf bear a conditionally visible crest in the shape of the Triforce on their dominant hand to signify they were chosen by the Triforce.
• Clothing Damage: Happens to Midna in the prologue while escaping Zant's forces.
• Coming of Age Story: Much moreso than the game.
• Compressed Adaptation: Zigzagged—the first part of the game is extended, but other parts are cut altogether.
  • As with other Himekawa Zelda manga, the dungeons tend to be skipped over quite a lot, with more of a focus on the boss battles. In the Lakebed Temple, Link finds Morpheel as soon as he enters.
  • Freeing Faron Woods, hunting the shadow insects, the section with the monkeys, and the Ook mini-boss battle were blended into one event.
  • On the way up to Death Mountain, Link doesn't return to Ordon Village to pick up sumo wrestling lessons from Mayor Bo, as Midna helps out Link during his sumo match against Gor Coron. Link also doesn't pick up the Iron Boots as well, relying solely on the Hero's Bow and arrows provided by Luda that originally belonged to Renado, instead of Dangoro allowing Link access to the bow, to defeat Fyrus.
  • Ilia's memory is recovered much more quickly than in the game.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Link meets a Skull Kid in the Lost Woods who seems to recognize him and the mark of the Triforce, suggesting that it's the same one from Majora's Mask.
  • Ganondorf greets a revived Princess Zelda with the same curtsy from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1999).
• Cooldown Hug: Rusl gives one to Link when he panics.
• Cool Horse: While a Diligent Draft Animal, Epona was originally bred as a warhorse and takes to Horseback Heroism with ease. She even sticks around to protect an incapacitated Link after he's thrown off her mid-battle.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Darpa is furious to discover that Link can instantly restore their displaced hometown simply by entering the Twilight Realm through the Mirror of Twilight—an artifact located within walking distance of both the town's original location and present one—and pulling the Gaurof Sword from its pedestal again.
• Cowardice Callout:
  • When Link finally confronts Zant, he calls out the evil sorcerer for relying on illusions to get away from the one person able to pose a threat to him.
  • Ashei tears into Auru for attempting to take out an incapacitated Midna during The Final Battle, telling him he'd rather defeat "forces of darkness" who can't put up a fight instead of the actual threat.
• Crush Filter: A dramatic example—when Ilia finally remembers and recognizes Link, it's shown that she refuses to see the blood dripping from his face◊, implying that she can't fully accept what Link is Beneath the Mask.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Compared to the source material, the final fight between Zant and Link is more one-sided. While Zant is able to confuse Link with his illusions and even land a blow on him, the bout ends with Zant's helmet and scimitar split apart. Link then sends him flying with one punch.
• Dare to Be Badass: The Hero's Shade gives Link two of them, first during their first proper meeting, and the second to kick off his Symbolic Hero Rebirth.
• Darker and Edgier: Yes, Akira Himekawa managed to make the darkest Zelda story even darker.
  • When Link is trying to save Colin and Ilia while searching for Talo and Malo, he gets his left arm chopped off by King Bulblin. Luckily, Ordona fixes that, since it happened at Ordon Spring.
  • The Hyrule Castle showdown of the resistance forces against Ganondorf's forces is more brutal, with several panels of Hyrulian soldiers being cut down like they're nothing.
  • Wolf Link tears out Ganon's heart with his teeth.
• Death by Adaptation: King Bulblin was shown riding across Hyrule Field after the final battle against him in the game's end stage. Here, he's shown rescuing Ilia from a horde of Bokoblins, and when we see him after the battle, he's been Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
• Dented Iron: Ook has become frailer with age, and his fear of being overcome by another monkey makes him vulnerable to the Shadow Insect that takes control of him.
• Did Not Get the Girl: In the end, Midna leaves to resume ruling the Twilight Realm. Link leaves Ordon Village soon thereafter, meaning that he doesn’t get together with Ilia either.
• Dominatrix: How Midna acts at the start, rather than being a Tsundere like in the game. She keeps calling Link her pet and insists she has the right to, as humans treat animals the same way.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Some of the Twili, including Zant, comment on how the Light Realm treats the Twilight Realm as supernatural sewers, a place to throw cursed items and sentenced criminals away, on top of never even remembering their existence.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Invoked—because Link is the god-chosen defender of Hyrule, he has an innate instinct to protect and serve its future queen and Abstract Apotheosis, Zelda. Even before meeting her, he felt compelled to become a knight for her sake and is prone to Freudian Slips suggesting he feels personally responsible for the princess's well-being.
• Dungeon Bypass: Rather than trudge through the elaborate City in the Sky as the player did, Link simply grabs an Aeralfos with his Clawshot and demands for it to fly him to Argorok's nest at swordpoint.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Zelda to Midna. Luckily, she gets better.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The Horse Charm makes an earlier appearance.
• Easily Forgiven: Played with. Darpa makes a show of how much trouble his town went through when Link accidentally sent it into the Twilight Realm, but admits that he egged Link on to pull the Gaurof Sword and that he is happy to see Link again. However, he’s driven into a mental breakdown when he sees Link easily undo the spell, and only moves to action when Link’s life is in danger.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Link is a very pretty young man, and Midna has noticed.
• Emotion Control: Link comes to a disturbing realization that some of his feelings are not his own after the mere mention of Ganondorf's name provokes an immediate urge to draw his sword.
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Ganondorf helps himself to Hyrule Castle’s tea when he revives Princess Zelda.
• Eternal Recurrence: Ganondorf has become aware of his designation as the Satanic Archetype in Link and Zelda's neverending reincarnation cycle and is pissed, especially since he didn't even get to do all that evil he was executed for yet. So he's not especially interested in taking over Hyrule this time around—he wants to drag Link and Zelda to hell with him.
• Evil-Detecting Animal: Evil makes the animals in Ordon uneasy and not willing to listen to their owners.
• Evil Learns of Outside Context: Though from the timeline where he was executed before he could actually do anything, Ganondorf has become aware of the events of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as well as his role in the franchise's Eternal Recurrence.
• Expy: Zelda's father is shown and is an expy of Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.
• Eye-Dentity Giveaway: Roo the cat recognizes wolf Link by his eyes. Rusl almost makes the same connection, but dismisses it as impossible.
• Fantastic Racism: The Twili and the Hylians both fear and distrust each other, with the former dipping into Nay-Theist territory for the fact that the gods are always on the side of the latter.
• Fearful Symmetry: Link's fight with Dark Link is completely mirrored, to the point when the Link gets the upper hand and stabs Dark Link, only to discover the Master Sword piercing through himself a moment later.
• The Final Battle: After Zant's defeat, Ganondorf decides to take a more active approach and conduct The Siege against Hyrule Castle Town, giving the rest of the cast some time to shine as Link and Midna storm the castle.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: Anika actually manages to get through Link's actual recovery without developing any feelings towards him other than antipathy and frustration, and even screams at him to leave the moment she sees that he's well enough to walk (and holding a weapon). Then Link patiently comforts her through the resultant breakdown and tells her how she's inspired him to become a Hope Bringer, and that's when the Crush Blush begins...
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Link's tunic tends to cling to his chest and shoulders in a manner that shouldn't be physically possible through chainmail, especially in the latter half of the manga.
• Friendly Rivalry: Before the story proper, Link had a highly competitive friendship with a boy named Darpa, who had challenged him to pull the Gaurof Sword after failing to do so himself. While trapped in the Twilight Realm, Darpa kept himself from falling into despair by holding on to that rivalry and training relentlessly to defeat Link should they ever get to spar again. So he does not take it well when he realizes Link would be Always Someone Better by divine fiat.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Armogohma was an entirely ordinary spider that had the misfortune to crawl onto a shard of the Mirror of Twilight just before Link and Midna were about to claim it. It's also what first makes Midna consider shattering the Mirror.
• Gaussian Girl: Link in Ilia's recollection of their first meeting is drawn as one.
• Go Out with a Smile: There are two examples in the final volume.
  • After completing his Heel–Face Turn and dying in battle against the monsters attacking Hyrule Castle Town, King Bulblin is still smiling.
  • Ganondorf gives Princess Zelda a final grin before pulling off his Spiteful Suicide.
• Gilded Cage: Zelda remarks that her imprisonment under Zant is quite easy to adjust to, as she spent her childhood so strictly controlled by handlers that even her breaks were dictated for her. Thus, she became quickly attached to Midna, the Only Friend she had ever chosen for herself.
• Girl of My Dreams: Link is sent a dream of Zant's coup by the Golden Wolf, and while Link is too fixated on the Golden Wolf to pay the woman beside it much mind, he does remember her enough to picture her in Midna's place on a couple of nights. Midna tells him he's just fantasizing when he first brings it up.
• Happily Failed Suicide: Ilia considers using a broken cup's shard on her wrist while in the Bulblins' captivity, but is interrupted by stray kittens in the hut, and decides to hope that Link will rescue her, drawing inspiration from one of the kittens struggling to live.
• Harmful to Minors: Zelda watched a recording of sorts of Ganondorf's execution as a child and Auru stopped her from watching any further, claiming she was too young.
• Hammer Hilt: Ganondorf sends Link flying with the pommel of the Sword of the Six Sages at one point.
• Hanging Up on the Grim Reaper: Between pulling the Gaurof Sword and waking up to the complete absence of his Doomed Hometown, Link remembers struggling in the grip of The Grim Reaper as it pulled him into the void. He later learns it wasn't the Grim Reaper at all; it was the Hero's Shade pulling Link out of the Twilight Realm.
• He Is All Grown Up: Darpa may joke that Link "got old", but Rusl remarks that he's grown into a striking man shockingly fast when they reunite, and Zeu is impressed by how built he now is.
• Hellistics: A conversation with Telma prompts Link to (correctly) suspect that his Doomed Hometown, his recently sacked second hometown, and the ominous activity around Hyrule Castle Town are fate's response to his lukewarm reception towards the Call to Adventure.
• Hey, You!: Midna calls Link simply "wolf". She later switches to calling him by name after nearly dying and then rescued by Zelda's light.
• I Can't Do This by Myself: The biggest lesson Link has to learn once he acquires the Master Sword, and the most painful.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: King Bulblin says he wants to make Ilia his toy, complete with Perverted Drooling.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Ganondorf forces him into one with Puppet Zelda, knowing Link can't force himself to hurt his destined protectorate but also isn't close enough to actually break through to her. This ends in a Curb-Stomp Battle that Link only survives thanks to Midna being a Big Damn Hero.
• Imaginary Love Triangle: Shad sees Link's arrival as the beginning of a Love Triangle for Ilia's affections, not quite realizing Link took Shad to be Ilia's Second Love, backed off entirely, and is now moving on to his own Second Love, Midna.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • Link ends the fight with Dark Link by running him through... and then wonders why he's the one with the Master Sword in his chest. And then he's fine a minute later—that fight ends up being a Mind Screw.
  • Link landing his final attack on Ganondorf, same as in-game.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Link says multiple times that he doesn't see himself as a hero, he just wants to protect his friends from the monsters. Surprisingly, the Hero's Shade agrees.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex:
  • Zant claims that he considers Hylians to be inferior to the Twili, and that he is the only one worthy of leading both the Twilight Realm and Hyrule. After losing to Link, he admits that he never believed in himself, something made more glaring by the fact that he doesn’t have a single power he didn’t take from Ganondorf.
  • This is also the source of Link's power trip upon receiving the Master Sword—it was the first time he felt capable of accomplishing things on his own and worthy of the task given to him.
• In-Joke: When Link recalls his past in chapter 6, Riom complains that it was tiring sparing with Link because he's left-handed. Link tells him that one would also get tired if they were right-handed. The Twilight Princess game has Link either left or right-handed depending on the version (GameCube, left-handed; Wii, right-handed) or mode (Wii U: Normal, left-handed; Hero, right-handed).
• Interspecies Romance: Link doesn't even wait for Midna to return to her original form before he starts with the PDAs.
• Invisible to Normals:
  • When Midna is in Link's shadow, nobody can see her... except Luda, for some reason.
  • The light spirits are only visible to Link, probably because he's The Chosen One.
• It's a Long Story: When Darpa wonders how Link apparently went went from fourteen to twenty-five in the two years they were separated, Link's explanation is only an Eye Twitch and, "Yeah, well, I've been through a lot."
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Especially since the Master Sword will reject him and revoke his Plot Armor if Link starts enjoying it too much. To add insult to injury, the Hero's Shade then informs him that The Call will not stop toying with him even in death.
• Jerkass Gods: Link is not impressed with the gods' track record, between eternally punishing an entire race for the Sins of Their Fathers, coercing troubled teenagers into daunting quests through Hellistics, and giving the Triforce of Power to the absolute worst person imaginable.
• Kick the Dog: Zant literally tears the Golden Wolf apart with his magic when he tries to help Midna. He gets better thanks to being the Hero's Shade, but still...
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Darpa squees so much when meeting the knights of Hyrule that Ashei has to remind him to actually fight.
• Last Kiss: Midna actually kisses Link before shattering the Mirror of Twilight, forever separating the two worlds.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: The Manga doesn't bother hiding Midna's true identity or appearance at all, nor Ganondorf's role as the Man Behind the Man. Instead, redirects that mystery to the Hero's Shade and his true identity as the late Hero of Time.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Shad's brain apparently applies its own Translation Convention when speaking foreign languages and doesn't realize that Japanese (or whatever language the manga's translation may use) is still only used to represent Hylian. It's not until Link mentions he also understood the Oocca's reply that Shad realizes the Oocca themselves, being a tour guide, has simply switched to Hylian for their guests' convenience.
• Left-Handed Mirror: Inverted. Link's left-handed himself, so Dark Link is right-handed instead.
• Leonine Contract: Midna promises to free and de-wolf Link on the condition he follows her commands—or, as Link puts it, becomes her Human Pet.
• Literally Shattered Lives: The ghost of Queen Rutela recounts that she died from being frozen solid and shattered into pieces.
• Long-Runners: The Twilight Princess manga ran from 2016 to 2022 with 70 chapters across 11 volumes, making it by far the longest running of the Zelda manga adaptations by Akira Himekawa (which usually only consist of 2 volumes at most). Given the more in-depth story and amount of sub-plots Twilight Princess has compared to past games, this is understandable.
• Love Across Battlelines: While Link and Midna are solidly on the same side, Hyrule and the Twilight Realm as a whole are less so, even without Zant forcing a war between them. This leads to a standoff in The Final Battle when Auru decides Midna's too dangerous for even a temporary alliance and orders Link to either surrender her to the Knights of Hyrule or take her out himself. Link chooses treason.
• Love Cannot Overcome: Ilia finds that she doesn't like being Link's Girl Back Home any more than she likes being in mortal peril; and once it becomes clear his own interest in her seems to be waning, she decides he's not worth becoming an Unrequited Tragic Maiden for and lets her feelings go.
• Ma'am Shock:
  • Telma brains a Bulblin for calling her "old."
  • Link is annoyed to get his first "ojii-san" (courtesy of Darpa) before he's even out of his teens.
• Magic Pants: The Powers That Be are courteous enough to provide Link his tunic whenever he returns to human form, though any other clothes he might've been wearing when he transformed into a wolf (such as the Zora armor or his original clothing) are lost forever.
• Mars Needs Women: King Bulblin has a Villainous Crush on Ilia, despite being an orc-like creature. He also punches a Bokoblin into the distance for trying to approach her.
• A Match Made in Stockholm: Being made Midna's Human Pet doesn't stop Link from developing feelings for her.
• Mind Screwdriver: In the game, after being defeated, Ganondorf stands back up, and, while grievously wounded, expresses a desire to continue the fight. Suddenly, the mark of the Triforce on his hand goes out. Cut to an image of Zant, who jerks his head to the side with a Neck Snap sound. Cut back to Ganondorf, who abruptly dies. The manga explains Ganondorf's thoughts in more detail: the Triforce of Power left him because he willingly deactivated it, choosing to die on his own terms rather than accept the harmony of the three Triforces existing in balance. His last words weren't because he was still fighting right now, but because he knows he'll come back As Long as There Is Evil.
• Misery Builds Character: For the Hero's Shade, to be A True Hero is to take on burdens far greater than most can endure and create something meaningful from the suffering they put you through. He recommends against being one if you can help it, but Link does not have that option.
• Mistress and Servant Boy: Midna helps Link return to his human form on the condition that he serves as her "pet" until she collects all the Fused Shadows. Despite his initial protests, Link doesn't actually mind getting bossed around as long as he thinks of her as his "navigator" rather than "master."
• Mood Whiplash: It starts peacefully, with comedy to the point of Link almost being a Dork Knight and having fun every day. Then Link wishes it'll last forever.
• More Expendable Than You: Though he's learned by this point that he needs all the help he can get to defeat Ganondorf, he's still insistent that no one follows him into the castle for the final confrontation itself. Darpa reads it as Condescending Compassion by a Smug Super (which Link plays along with), but Midna realizes when Link leaves her behind as well that he doesn't expect to survive a fight with Ganondorf either—he's just the only one expendable for whatever Heroic Sacrifice will be necessary.
• Mundane Utility: Link never really comes to like his lycanthropy even after it becomes entirely voluntary... unless it's cold.
  Link: I love fur.
• My Greatest Failure: Link blames himself not only for destroying his hometown (a result even he admits no one could have predicted, but for running away from the consequences and denying anything that might tie him to the event. Though he was just messing with Link, Darpa's accusation that he "went on [his] merry little way" after damning them hits hard enough to shame Link into silence.
• Mythology Gag: After drawing the Master Sword, Link gets a bad case of Acquired Situational Narcissism, starts trying to take on a huge number of enemies by himself, and gets into a fight with Dark Link. Are we talking about the Twilight Princess manga, or the attack on Cia in Hyrule Warriors?
• No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: While Link recognizes Darpa on sight, Darpa nearly puts an arrow through Link's skull before realizing who he is. Then he teases Link for getting "old" when he finally does.
• Nominal Hero: Link asserts this when Faron asserts he's The Chosen One, pointing out the heroic deed allegedly qualifying him for the role was simply him fumbling about blindly and trying to get back to being human and/or not die.
• Not His Sled: Midna's true nature as the Twilight Princess is known from the outset, but Zelda's reaction to her Last Request still a big Wham Line, for much different reasons.
  Midna: Before I die, please help Link.
  Zelda: ... Link? Your name is Link?!
• Not in This for Your Revolution: King Bulblin claims this when he shows up to defend Hyrule Castle Town in The Siege.
  King Bulblin: You beat me, and I follow the strong. End of story.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: While Zant claims that his motive for conquering Hyrule was to give his people what he claims to be their birthright, Link points out that no real king would even consider turning his people into mindless monsters.
• Now or Never Kiss: Link gives one to Midna in the middle of The Final Battle, right before running off to what he believes will be a Suicide Mission
• One-Steve Limit: Sera's cat is also named Link, but the English release changes it to Roo to adhere to this. The Hero of Time/Hero's Shade goes unnamed for the same reason, though Zelda's reaction to learning Link's name gives the reader a hint.
• Only in It for the Money: Link acts like it, complaining about his pay and wants payments for every task he does. But in reality, this is just a jerkass act Played for Laughs among the characters, as it's implied that Link Cannot Tell a Joke.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: The manga introduces the "Gaurof Sword" that Link pulled out of a stone two years before the story. And, as always, the Master Sword can only be held by the Chosen Hero.
• Otherworldly Communication Failure: The traumatic circumstances of Link's first encounter with the Hero's Shade lead him to conclude he's The Grim Reaper here to claim the one that got away. The Golden Wolf is treated with similar suspicion, as Link first concludes his much-unwanted wolf transformation was a curse it placed on him.
• Our Humans Are Different: Half of them, anyway. Rather than a distinct fantasy race, Hylian is merely a human ethnicity, and Pointed Ears indicate little more than that someone was probably born closer to Hyrule's capital than its borders.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Those with the Spirit of the Hero become wolves when exposed to the Twilight, rather than incorporeal spirits. Zant turns this into a Forced Transformation by ramming a whole chunk of the stuff into Link's skull, but this winds up backfiring when Link purges it with the Master Sword and repurposes it as a handy Transformation Trinket.
• Past-Life Memories: Awakening the Triforce of Wisdom has also made Zelda remember her past incarnation's life and actions in both the original and present timeline.
• Penal Colony: The biggest beef the Twili have with Hyrule isn't their ancestors' banishment, but that the Royal Family continued to use their realm as a dumping ground for its prisoners well after the original exiles passed on and left entirely blameless descendants to deal with Hyrule's discarded criminals and evildoers.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: One of the reasons why Link winds up Younger Than They Look is because time's effect on his body was accelerated during his Training from Hell. It's unclear just how much it aged him or if it applied only in the Temple of Time, but it's enough for the Hero's Shade to warn that it has significantly shortened his lifespan.
• Power Dynamics Kink: Despite his initial protests, Link actually likes being Midna's loyal (though not entirely obedient) attack dog, one time joking that Midna has a knack for animal taming. Their Big Damn Kiss at the end even starts with a slap and ends with Midna shoving Link to the floor, to which Link responds by kneeling deferentially and with a smile.
• Power Nullifier: While Zelda can't kill Ganondorf with the Light Arrows, she does successfully separate him from his source of magic—though not from his Triforce-granted Complete Immortality—and thus forces him to fight Link on purely physical terms.
• Power Perversion Potential: Midna does not leave Link's shadow when he undresses and bathes, and she's made sure Link knows it.
• Promoted to Love Interest:
  • It's clearer that Ilia has a crush on Link with crush blushes, and Link also blushes around her. She was a strongly implied love interest in the game but not outright stated, not unlike the other main women in the game.
  • While the game implies that Midna had feelings for Link but Cannot Spit It Out, the manga has her kiss him before returning to the Twilight Realm.
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Zelda's history with Midna borders on a Childhood Friend Romance. She even compares it to the (more explicitly romantic) relationship Midna and Link develop with each other before giving Midna a Dying Declaration of Love and making a Heroic Sacrifice.
• Pure Is Not Good: As one of the Sages admits, the Triforce doesn't really have its own ethos; it simply imbues its bearer with the virtue it represents. So as the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, Link is also more susceptible to its distortions—anxiety, arrogance, desperation, and fatalism.
• "The Reason I Suck" Speech:
  • Link is furious when he learns he's been made The Chosen One—not because it's inconvenient for him, but because he can't believe the gods would be stupid enough to pick someone with such a bad track record for heroism, especially since the only noble mission he'd accomplished so far was out of self-preservation and dumb luck.
  • Surprisingly, Zant gives himself such a speech during his last conversation with Link, even if it's followed by an Ignored Epiphany.
    Zant: Ha...ha ha...you're right...I was lying. I don't hate you because you're from the world of light. It's those eyes! They shine with your belief in yourself. When I see them, I'm filled with irresistible jealousy and hatred. I...cannot be like you. I can never truly believe in myself.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Hero's Shade sees Link as his son; he's also a very stern father. He even stops by to give Link a Reason You Suck interrogation after his Acquired Situational Narcissism bites him in the ass.
• Redemption Equals Death: In the original game, King Bulblin simply leaves after being defeated by Link and giving Link one of the needed keys, other than saying that he respects only the strongest. In the manga, after he is healed by Ilia before the invasion on Castle Town, in part of her kindness despite their earlier animosity, King Bulblin fights the invading Twili and Ganondorf's forces in defense of the Hylians. In the end, he dies with many weapons stabbed in his back.
• Redemption Rejection:
  • When Zant finally loses to Link, he quietly rants that he never believed in his own power and that his entire scheme was one big attempt at making himself feel powerful. Link tries to show pity and offer Zant redemption. Zant seems to consider the offer a brief moment, only to reaffirm that all he cares about is the throne he feels he deserves.
  • At the end, Ganondorf is finally defeated by Princess Zelda and Link. The latter considers sparing the villain, believing that perhaps if all three come to an understanding, then they can end the cycle of conflict that they have carried out for so long. Ganondorf smirks at the idea and boasts that he would never settle for anything so "harmonious", instead committing a Spiteful Suicide specifically so he will reincarnate and continue to torment the heroes on a future day to come.
• Relationship Labeling Problems: Even after Midna gets over herself enough to openly care for Link, she hesitates to even call it a friendship in her own head, since she "doesn't have the luxury to think of such things," and Link himself seems content with calling her a friend despite his obvious adoration. At the same time, neither make the effort to correct Zant's assumption that Link is her lover. When announcing his willingness to turn his sword against Auru for Midna's sake, Link not only uses the word 大切な人—his special someone—for her, he then replaces her usual third-person pronoun あの人 with 彼女, a gendered pronoun less commonly used because it also can mean girlfriend. Which is more or less what Link just very publicly declared Midna to be.
• Rejected by the Empathic Weapon: The Master Sword rejects Link when he becomes a Blood Knight and allows Dark Link to manifest from the Triforce. Although Link gets through the encounter, the Master Sword weighs itself down so that he cannot use it until he has a change of heart.
• Resemblance Reveal: When the Hero's Shade comes to snap Link out of his Heroic BSoD, he appears In the Hood rather than his skeletal guise. During their chat, Link catches sight of what's under the hood and is shocked to see his own face—or rather, the nigh-identical face of his predecessor, the Hero of Time.
• Ret-Canon: Eventually, Link would lose his arm in Tears of Kingdom, though from Gloom, Malice's refined form.
• Revenge by Proxy: Unable to kill the Hero’s Shade, who foiled his plans back when he was Young Link, Ganondorf plans to kill the Hero of Twilight.
• Road Trip Romance: Thanks to Midna's Promotion to Love Interest.
• Romantic Runner-Up: Shad hits it off with the amnesiac Ilia well enough that an eventual romance becomes a likelihood... and then Link barges into the tavern to continue that Rescue Romance he and Ilia were evidently having. Ilia is the Romantic Runner-Up in all this, losing to Midna.
• She's Not My Girlfriend: Link denies it quite bluntly when Sera asks if Ilia is his girlfriend. Unlike most examples, he does not blush despite blushing around Ilia earlier.
• Shirtless Scene: Along with the original sumo bout, the manga later adds an entire shirtless chapter showing off Link's development as a hero since then.
• Significant Name Overlap: Though only (very heavily) implied within the manga itself, Link shares his name with the Hero's Shade, aka the Hero of Time.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Link and Midna's Belligerent Sexual Tension persists even after they become quite openly affectionate. Midna even precedes their Big Damn Kiss with a Bitch Slap and unceremoniously shoves him to the floor once she's done.
• Slashed Throat: Ganondorf takes control of Zelda's body and tries to kill Link this way. Link steps back just in time to walk away with a nick on his neck.
• Something Else Also Rises: When Midna gets her first good look at a human Link, she stares so long that the Rays from Heaven shining down on him light her on fire.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the game, Argorok is killed in his battle with Link. Here, pulling the Mirror Shard from his armor turns him into a harmless wyvern.
• Spiteful Suicide: After losing his final fight against Link and taking a mortal wound from the Master Sword, Ganondorf simply deactivates the Triforce of Power to die on his own terms, reasoning that some version of him will appear to torment Hyrule anyway.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Ganondorf can summon his swords at will.
• Stab the Sky: Ordona makes Link's detached left arm with the sword rise skyward.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Link and Midna's relationship ends up doomed because the nature of people is to fight, and therefore the Twilight and Light Realms cannot coexist. Midna cannot remain in Hyrule, and she will not allow Link to follow her and leave Hyrule without its chosen Hero. She gives him one Last Kiss before shoving him away and destroying the Mirror of Twilight behind her, permanently separating the two as well as their realms. While there are places where the two worlds reflect each other and communication is possible, the destruction of the Mirror means there is no way for Link and Midna to be together physically.
• Starfish Language: The Oocca's Sky Language is rendered as cursive scribbles, although the words are written phonetically when Shad speaks to Ooccoo.
• Stealth Sequel: Twilight Princess had already been a very Distant Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but the manga makes the connection far more direct and explicit beginning at Link's Symbolic Hero Rebirth, when the Hero's Shade shows Link his face in life, revealing himself as the Hero of Time.
• Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Ganondorf figures, even if he doesn't win, he can at least piss Link and Zelda off as much as humanly possible before kicking it. Thus, he pulls a Spiteful Suicide the moment he sees Link contemplate sparing him after his defeat to break the Eternal Recurrence, deciding he'd rather have another go at terrorizing their souls at a later date.
• Subordinate Excuse: Turns out Link actually likes getting bossed around by imps and even gets upset when Midna finally does release him from their initial arrangement as she promised.
• Suddenly Speaking: Downplayed; King Bulblin speaks much more frequently in the manga than he did in the game, which consisted of one line before his last fight and two lines after being defeated.
• Suit Up of Destiny: Link's first return to human form resembles a Magical Girl Transformation Sequence, complete with artistic nudity.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Link plays along with Darpa's accusation of Condescending Compassion to dissuade others from battling Ganondorf alongside him because he doesn't want them to know it's a Suicide Mission.
• Take Up My Sword: Rusl gives Link his sword after hearing a near-death Fado talk about monsters in the forest.
• Talking Animal: Ordona speaks through a massive goat, Faron through a long-tailed monkey, Eldin through an oversized hawk, and Lanayru through a giant snake. Also, Link's wolf form is given just as much dialogue as his human form, but as he only takes the form in the Twilight (unlike in the game, where he made periodic trips into dispelled regions), it's unclear if anyone besides Midna can understand him.
• Tautological Templar: Link's Acquired Situational Narcissism reaches its peak when he concludes that receiving the Master Sword is proof he's become an Ideal Hero and thus can do no wrong. When Midna realizes she can no longer get through to him, she disappears on him so he can learn the hard way that he's far from the hero he thinks he is, even if it nearly kills him.
• Tears of Fear: Ilia and Colin both do this when encountering King Bulblin and his forces.
• Terrifying Rescuer: Unsurprisingly, Ilia doesn't find a sword barely missing her throat any less terrifying than the Stalhound Link just thrust it through to save her.
  Link: Ilia! Are you all right!?
  Ilia: N-No! Stay away!
• To Serve Man: King Bulblin kidnaps Colin so he can treat his underlings to some takeout. He's a bit annoyed to learn they wasted their food by letting him get away.
• Tragic Keepsake: Link is shown to keep a Black Cloak he had from his days as a wanderer after the loss of his home.
• Trauma Button: In Volume 4, Ilia nearly breaks down in fear when the bulblins appear, having previously lost her memory to cope with her time in captivity.
• Training from Hell: The Hero's Shade more or less puts Link through this in chapters 22 and 23.
• Truer to the Text: In a sense. While he's typically interpreted by English-speaking fans as a selfless Knight in Shining Armor and straightforward Badass, Aonuma has stated the Link of Twilight Princess was conceived as a "tryhard brat", as reflected in his needless Weapon Twirling and the Hero's Shade's less than stellar initial impressions. Thus, Link's characterization in the manga is less an Adaptation Personality Change so much as the game's Link without the player projection.
• Vagueness Is Coming: Played with. Having already had one disastrous run-in with the Call to Adventure, Link is quick to pick up on even the most subtle Portent of Doom as a sign that shit is about to go down and he'll be the center of it. But he's also desperate to hold on to the new life he's carved out for himself for as long as possible, and the building guilt and fear he feels for doubling down on pretending everything is just fine result in seemingly unprovoked mood swings that serve as a much more obvious omen than any spooked animals or inexplicably blighted bumper crop. When people start disappearing, one of the villagers immediately identifies Link as a Doom Magnet, and Link finally breaks.
• Villainous Breakdown: After his second and even more devastating loss to Link, King Bulblin is left as a shattered wreck sitting in the alley of Hyrule Castle Town. Even his former captive Ilia feels sorry for him.
• Villainous Crush:
  • King Bulblin kidnaps Ilia, planning to make her the princess of his tribe.
  • It is revealed that Zant wanted to marry Midna and is absolutely enraged by her relationship with Link.
• Wardrobe Wound: During the battle against Zant, Link slashes through the usurper's helmet. Zant is so enraged that he breaks out of his usual cowardice and rushes at Link with a sword.
• Was Once a Man: The Shadow Beasts, along with being Brainwashed and Crazy, can happen to humans just as well as the Twili.
• We Can Rule Together: Upon arriving at Hyrule Castle, Ganondorf comments on how the balance between the Triforce wielders is never in his favor, and proposes an alliance between himself and Princess Zelda. When she refuses, he decides that pulling a Grand Theft Me on her would work equally well.
• Werewolves Are Dogs: Midna certainly thinks so. Her very first order after Link agrees to her Leonine Contract is: "Sit, boy!"
• Why Can't I Hate You?: Shad has very conflicted feelings about the fact that the first person to ever take his research seriously and encourage him is Link—the guy who also completely torpedoed his budding romance with Ilia. After a bout of Angrish and what appear to be the five stages of grief playing out in a single panel, his need for validation wins out over his thwarted love life.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises:
  • Poor, poor, Colin. He wouldn't look out of place in Higurashi: When They Cry.
  • Link is subject to an unusual variant. In contrast to most other characters, Link's eyes are typically drawn with visible collarettes^note a circular ridge separating the pupillary and ciliary zones of the iris, and it's these that will shrink, dilate, or disappear rather than the iris itself.
• What Measure Is a Humanoid?: Defied for the most part. While Midna does have a more human form she returns to in the end, Link falls for her well before he knows for sure that she's under a Forced Transformation and has no problem kissing or cuddling half-naked with a tiny, bobble-headed imp. For her part, Link being a sort of werewolf is not a dealbreaker for Midna.
• Who Will Bell the Cat?: During the attack on Hyrule Castle Town, Auru confronts Link with a group of soldiers and demands that he hand over Midna. When Link refuses and draws the Master Sword on them, none are actually willing to get within range of the blade. Finally, one nameless soldier steps forward to save Link from a Dynafo about to attack him from behind.
• Wife Husbandry: It is revealed that Zant tried to pull this on Midna: after teaching her from childhood to adulthood, he unsuccessfully proposed marriage. While he did have a pragmatic motive of marrying into the royal family, he flies into an immensely disturbing trance when he finds out she’s reentered the Twilight Realm.
• With This Herring: While Ordona was nice enough to reattach Link's arm, relocate his sword, and give him a new set of clothes, Faron provides him nada when informing him he's The Chosen One and sending him off to Eldin. Midna suggests that maybe he would have received some Supernatural Aid if he hadn't told Faron the gods sucked at picking heroes.
• Wonderful Werewolf: These are actually the rule rather than the exception. Twili lore has it that heroes can take the form of noble beasts, so Midna had a good idea of what she was getting when she found Link.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Under the reign of Midna's father, it was policy to execute any light-dwellers who entered the Twilight Realm, knowing Hyrule still treated it as a penal colony and thus only sent their worst. However, when the royal gardener stumbled upon Link's displaced hometown, the thought of possibly executing children and the elderly disgusted him so much that he chose not to report their arrival to the royal family at all and instead covertly helped them get by in their new environment, as did any other Twili who later discovered them.
• Wounded Hero, Weaker Helper: Link is put in the care of a young girl named Anika after the Master Sword rejects him and Zant Curb Stomps him.
• Wrecked Weapon:
  • Zelda breaks her rapier when she surrenders to Zant's forces.
  • In the final fight between Link and Zant, Link's Master Sword cuts right through one of Zant's scimitars.
• You Are Not Alone: Though he first gives Link a brutal dressing down, the Hero's Shade then comforts Link by revealing himself as Link's predecessor, the Hero of Time, and promising to guide him on the path to become A True Hero.
• You Can See Me?: Luda can see Midna in Link's shadow, to both their surprise.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Multiple characters have pointed to Link that he's The Chosen One by the Triforce, so he can't even attempt Refusal of the Call. After the episode of Drunk with Power, he becomes bedridden for a few days, as he doesn't want to screw up the mission he didn't agree to again.
• Your Universe or Mine?: Both Link and Midna take it as a given that Midna's returning to the Twilight Realm once the journey is complete, especially since she's Weakened by the Light. At the end, Link begs to come with her, but Midna refuses to jeopardize Hyrule by taking its god-chosen guardian with her when she must destroy the Artifact of Doom that connects their worlds. After Midna slaps some sense into him and makes it clear she nonetheless reciprocates his feelings, Link accepts the situation and bids her farewell.

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