Link's Uncle

Link's Uncle is a character in A Link to the Past.^[1]

Biography

A Link to the Past

A former knight in service to the royal family of Hyrule, Link's Uncle has been Link's guardian for some time. He teaches him how to effectively use a sword in the game.

Link, woken in the night by a telepathic plea from Princess Zelda, finds his uncle about to leave the house with a sword and shield in hand. Seeing Link wake, he tells him not to leave the house, promising to return for morning.^[2] Ignoring his instructions, Link sneaks into the palace via the sewers in an attempt to rescue the Princess himself. Here, Link finds his uncle mortally wounded, unable to go on. Entrusting him with the task of saving the Princess, he gives Link his sword and shield and teaches him the Spin Attack before dying.^[3]

At the end of the game, after Ganon has been defeated and Link makes a wish on the Triforce, Link's Uncle is shown to be alive and well in the credits, where he seems to be practicing sword fighting with Link in front of their house.

In the Game Boy Advance version of the game, Link's Uncle appears in the Palace of the Four Sword, wounded. However, when Link speaks with him, he transforms into Blind the Thief.

Other Appearances

Non-Canon Information

The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.

A Link to the Past (Ishinomori)

In the A Link to the Past comic by Shotaro Ishinomori, it is mentioned that Link's Uncle adopted Link because his parents stumbled into the Dark World, shielding him from the intrigues of the Royal Family.^[4]

At the beginning of the comic, Link's Uncle goes to Hyrule Castle to confront Agahnim while Link is still asleep. When Link wakes up in his house to find that his uncle is missing, he panics but heads to Hyrule Castle after hearing Princess Zelda's plead. Link sneaks into the castle and sees his uncle dueling Agahnim, who deals a deadly strike to Link's uncle, saying that anyone who challenges him will meet their doom, and promptly vanishes afterward.^[5] Link rushes to his uncle's side and receives his sword and shield from him. Before passing out, Link's Uncle explains that after the young hero rescues Zelda and the people in the Dark World, he might be able to meet his parents.^[6] After he passes away, Link promises to defeat Agahnim with the use of the Master Sword to avenge his uncle's death.^[7]

Once Link reaches Death Mountain, he stumbles upon a portal to the Dark World, which activates itself and shows a vision of his parents standing with his uncle.^[8] Link's Uncle is not seen again until the end of the comic after Link defeats Ganon and peace returns to Hyrule: at Hyrule Castle, Link sees a vision of his father, mother and uncle, who congratulate him on his difficult victory and tell him to never forget the efforts of the many generations of knights and Wise Men that preceded him.^[9]

Legacy as an Archetype

The character Rusl from Twilight Princess may have been inspired by Link's Uncle. They are both swordsmen who serve as Link's mentors and father figures, and are wounded during the game. Additionally, they both have their hair parted in the middle and have facial hair of a different color.

In official artwork, Tarin from Link's Awakening resembles Link's Uncle. Both are rotund, have big round noses, black hair (Link's Uncle's hair is purple in the game but black in artwork), and large mustaches.

Trivia

• In the original SNES version, Link's Uncle begins to say, "Zelda is your..." then trails off and dies.^[10] This caused some fans to speculate that the full sentence would have read "Zelda is your sister", possibly in relation to the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (less popular sentence endings included "ally" and "only hope").^{[citation needed]} The original Japanese version of the game contains a different line – お、お前は、姫の…　…。' (y- you are the Princess's... ...). In the Game Boy Advance version, Link's Uncle's last words were changed.^[11] However, the direct translation of the aforementioned line is spoken by Blind the Thief when it impersonates Link's Uncle in the Palace of the Four Sword.^[12]
• The official Japanese soundtrack CD of A Link to the Past contained a short radio drama. In it, a young Link was placed under the care of Zelda's nurse, Egorowa, and her husband Alphon - who he calls uncle. It is unclear if this meant to be a preview of a pre-Ocarina of Time version of the Imprisoning War or simply an alternate history.
• Link's Uncle is briefly seen in the Japanese commercial for A Link to the Past.
• A picture of a man resembling Link's Uncle can be seen on the wall of Link's house in A Link Between Worlds.^{[verification needed]}

Nomenclature

Names in Other Regions
Language	Names	Meanings
Japanese	おじさん (Ojisan)[14]	Uncle
FrenchEUEuropean	Oncle[16]	Uncle
German	Links Onkel[15]
Italian	Zio di Link[13]	Link's Uncle
This table was generated using translation pages. To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Gallery

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  An injury drives Link's Uncle to the ground

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  Link's Uncle as seen at the end of A Link to the Past

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  Link's Uncle standing next to Link after being revived by Link's Triforce wish

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  Link and his uncle beneath Hyrule Castle

References