Throughout the series, Link has made multiple appearances in a variety of incarnations, but has been traditionally depicted in his signature green cap and tunic wielding a sword and shield.

Link's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, said that his concept of The Legend of Zelda was based on his childhood memories as well as books and movies that he and video game designer Takashi Tezuka had enjoyed, notably J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

The series spans thousands of years in Hyrule's history across The Legend of Zelda fictional timeline, so that each version of the character is a different Link, sometimes being a descendant of earlier incarnations or a spiritual reincarnation.

Skyward Sword, which was released in 2011, explained Link's incarnations by creating an origin story, in which the antagonist Demise curses the hero to be caught in an endless cycle of defeating evil in the form of Ganon.

[9][10] Prior to The Wind Waker a cartoon version of Link was created by graphic designer Yoshiki Haruhana as a way to evolve the series, which was well received by the development team.

[16] Nakano and Takizawa stated in The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts that they had planned to design him aged mid-to-late twenties and that he would be well built, but this was rejected because the team expected that fans wanted to see Link as he appeared in Ocarina of Time.

Aonuma said that the design team considered the animal to be the best representation of a hero and that this function gave the adult version of Link limited human abilities, allowing him to mature over the course of the game.

[27] In the mythology of the series, Link is the reincarnated soul of a hero, chosen by the goddess Hylia to protect the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon and save Princess Zelda whenever the need arises.

During the game, Link finds various magical masks that transform him into a Goron, Deku Scrub, or Zora, which each grant him special abilities such as gliding, swimming underwater and rolling.

[58] Nintendo artist Satoru Takizawa explained that the game's sequel was abandoned due to being set on land and Toon Link's proportions not being suitable for horseback riding.

[62] Twilight Princess aimed to provide a stark contrast to the cartoonish style of The Wind Waker, presenting a game world drained of colour and a story with a more mature tone.

[74] The storyline revolves around the theme of fashion and is set in the realm of Hytopia, where a witch has cursed Princess Styla to wear an ugly brown body suit.

The gameplay departs from the usual Zelda open-world structure and involves completing dungeons and collecting materials to fashion outfits that provide specific abilities.

[86] Despite being originally intended as the protagonist, Link was ultimately replaced by Zelda as Aonuma felt that his sword fighting skills were not compatible with the copy and paste mechanism at the core of the game's echoes concept.

[103] In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which acts as a prequel to Breath of the Wild and exists within the same game world, Link is accompanied by a roster of characters to fight alongside on the battlefield.

[123][124] Incarnations of Link from The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Tri Force Heroes also appear as "Mystery Mushroom" costumes in Super Mario Maker.

[128] The Master Sword and Hylian Shield appear alongside Link's Champion's Tunic from Breath of the Wild as Amiibo-unlocked content in the Nintendo Switch version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Several other manga adaptations have been published by Viz Media based on the Zelda video games, including Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, A Link to the Past and The Minish Cap, which were illustrated by Akira Himekawa.

[156] Complex described him as one of the "most badass" comic book characters,[157] and emphasised the fond memories that most gamers have of their first encounter with Link and the nostalgia that he creates within the video game community.

[158] UGO considered Link to be the top comic book character who needs their own movie: "Get Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro to do it, dump a ton of money into it, and we'll all die happy".

[165] Critics have commented on his sex appeal, including Jeffrey Parkes of Polygon who likened his Skyward Sword incarnation to a himbo[166] and Kirsten Carey of The Mary Sue who described his official Tears of the Kingdom artwork as "a dangerous thirst trap".

[167] Brian Feldman for New York magazine highlighted that Nintendo had finally acknowledged Link's sex appeal through the dialogue of various side characters in Breath of the Wild.

[169] The cartoon rendition in the 1989 television series was widely criticized, partially due to its obnoxious characterisation of the hero that Michael Mammano of Den of Geek described as "appalling".

[171] Richard George and Audrey Drake of IGN commented that the game was the first to give Link more character depth and used its time shifts to illustrate his growth from youthful innocence to adulthood.

[174] Kate Gray for Nintendo Life highlighted Link's stoicism and altruism in the face of imminent death and opined that the game centres on his sacrifice and resulting loss of innocence and childhood.

[175] When Miyamoto unveiled the cartoon design for Link at E3 2002 for The Wind Waker, it diverged from a more realistic young adult model previously seen battling Ganondorf at the Nintendo Space World Demo in 2000.

[181] The relationship between Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword was praised by Susan Arendt of The Escapist for moving away from the traditional narrative of a prophecied hero to a more personal concern of saving his childhood friend.

[189] Matt Kamen of Wired felt that his vulnerability, caused by starting the game in rags and collecting highly degradable weapons, impacts the gameplay by making the player more cautious.

[4] Ryan Lambie of Den of Geek praised him as "the videogame equivalent of Tintin" because he is, "the archetypal young hero, embodying all the optimism, generosity and spirit of adventure a broad fantasy action game requires".

[158] Damien McFerran of Nintendo Life remarked that the enigmatic nature of his character leaves him open to interpretation and makes him "one of the most drawn and imitated video game icons".