Link Gustaf II (Total War)

Link is the First Knight of the Goddess Hylia and heir to the original royal bloodline of the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Appearance
Link is a male Hylian with long gold hair and blue eyes. After he reaches maturity, he grows a short beard.

Link wears a suit of chainmail under his iconic green tunic and cap, with additional protection from a set pf iron pauldrons and vambraces. He primarily utilizes the Master Sword and a Hylian shield in combat.

Powers and Abilities
Though he does not utilize Wizzrobe magic, Link is of royal Ancient Hylian blood, and retains the long lifespan of his ancestors, remaining youthful well into his fifties.

History


Gerudo Wars
Link is descended from the surviving children of King Gustaf, who escaped Hylia's attempts to eliminate them and went into hiding for thousands of years. Born in Hyrule Prime, his father died when he was young, and his mother eventually abandoned him after bringing a series of step-fathers into his life, leaving him in the care of his uncle, a soldier in the Hylian army. Both his estranged mother and Uncle were killed in the Gerudo Wars.

When Ganondorf and the Gerudo assault Hyrule Prime in 99 AG, Link is the last civilian smuggled out by Impa in a secret tunnel that leads to Vigjaro, who gives him a sword before sending him off. With his uncle's fate unknown to him, he begins to do charity work in the Cathedral. The Wizzrobe Nostrum, intrigued by the boy, decides to test him by offering to give him a Golden Rupee, which would allow him to buy anything he wants, on a condition that he mustn't do charity again. When Link refuses, Nostrum tells him that he's passed his test, and allows him to see their master Hylia, the disgraced Queen of Hyrule that reigned five millennia ago.

Suspecting he is a descendant of King Gustaf, Hylia interviews Link by asking him why he's helping people in need, and if he'd fight to help others, to which Link responds succinctly. Hylia then asks Link if he'd kill every Gerudo to avenge his uncle, and Link responds 'not all of them', even though they most certainly have killed him. Seeing that Link is not blinded by the hatreds and self-righteousness most Hylians hold, Hylia offers him to be her first knight, to which he readily agrees.

A year later, after Agahnim is dethroned, Hyrule Castle reclaimed from the Gerudo and Princess Oraiya Zelda IV kidnapped by Vaati to Ontheon, Link and his new partner Lana Valashi, a young Hylian girl who had just been admitted to the Order of the Wizzrobe, are given a mission to go to the Gerudo Desert and capture Nabooru, the first wife of the Gerudo warlord Ganondorf. As the Hylian army breaks the gates of Ashinon, the two sneak inside Ganondorf's palace and encounter him arguing with Nabooru. Ganondorf threatens to kill them for being Hylian spies, but Nabooru convinces him not to, going so far as to putting her scimitar to his neck so Link and Lana could escape.

The Hylian army storms into the palace, taking the cornered Ganondorf as their prisoner; meanwhile, Nabooru runs away, but Link and Lana encounter her again and take her under their custody. Nostrum then tells him of his next objective: help Nabooru and her accomplice Senturon to free the imprisoned Sage Yaraxonal, Senturon's wife, under Ontheon, before turning back east.

Under Ontheon, the four find Yaraxonal frozen in stone and wonder why Vaati didn't kill her outright instead of simply petrifying her. While Senturon is faced with a predicament, Link attempts to break Yaraxonal's statue with his sword and explains that if Vaati froze her in stone, then breaking the stone will free her. His assumption proves correct as Yaraxonal is immediately freed when the stone breaks.

After the end of the Gerudo Wars, Link and Lana are ordered by Hylia to deliver her letters to the six Sages and announce her plan to create the Master Sword to them.

Second Golden Age​
Link is later sent to the Kokiri Forest and fostered by the Great Deku Tree among the Kokiri, where he grows particularly close to Saria, the Sage of Forests.

After several years living among the Kokiri, Link is recalled by Lana and continues his training to be Hylia's First Knight.

By the precipice of his adulthood, Link has completed his training, and he, Lana, and the Order's new army are placed in magical stasis under Vigjaro Cathedral until they are needed.

The Return of Sulkaris
In 127 AG, Sulkaris' Gohma swarm Vigjaro and overwhelm the hylian defenders, forcing Hylia to order Nostrum to activate her army. Link is the first member of the Order awoken from stasis, and quickly arms himself with his iconic green armor and the Master Sword before rushing out just in time to meet the incoming Gohma swarm. Link, much to the awe of the garrison and evacuating civilians, single-handedly slaughters the entire swarm and forces the Gohma vanguard to temporarily retreat.

He is joined by Lana and the rest of the Order's forces as a bewildered King Kazakk demands to know who they are, who which Link retorts that the Order serves a "higher authority" than the King. He is then ordered by Lana to protect Vigjaro's main tradeway with the Order's Acolytes and Hylian Wizards. When Lana realizes the Gohma are crossing the city's undefended moat, Link joins up with her forces and the manage to stop the Gohma offensive.

During the battle, they manage to capture the emissary Agitha, who reveals the whereabouts of the traitor Akazoo: he is attempting to barter the captured Princess Zelda for a dangerous and powerful artifact in the hands of Keaton thieves. Leaving Lana in charge of the city, Link and Kazakk brings the fight to the criminals' headquarters at the Vigjaro Glade. While Kazakk is busy fighting Akazoo, Link takes care of his accomplice Azrily, discovers the Princess currently being held inside a pocket prison and takes her into his custody. He then secretly communicates with Hylia via a mirror, who orders him to bring the Princess and the army to her.

Manifest Destiny
With attacks from the Labrynna Regime on the eastern border of Ordona Province increasing, Link and Princess Zelda travel south with a small army to help reinforce the region. There they lead a failing defensive mission against Labrynna with Rusl, Ilia, and Ashei. With many knights killed, defeat seems unavoidable until the Labrynna armies are called back to their homeland.

Under the advice of Sheik, the Ordonians lead a counterattack against the Regime in the east. Once there they successfully frees enslaved Tokay to aid in attacking Lynna City and the Black Tower. The siege is going well until it is discovered that Veran is responsible for the construction of the Black Tower and it is in fact a new Mirror of Twilight. King Zant and armies of Twili begin to assemble in the Black Tower, descending upon the city and pushing the Ordonian and Tokay armies back. Soon after swarms of Fairies under the command of Tarm begin to pour into the city, igniting a huge three way battle between all three forces. Link is abandoned by the Hylian army in the chaos.

Though attacked by the new invading forces, Link saves the Fairy Navi from death and earns her trust and loyalty. With the help of Sheik and a group of Fairies, Link ascends on the Black Tower to confront Veran, though she manages to kill Sheik and escape. Before she dies, Sheik reveals herself as the ex-Princess Zelda IV, and makes him promise not to expose it to her daughter.

Hyrule in Chaos
His task at the east left to the Fairies, Link returns to the Kingdom of Hyrule, and is reunited with Princess Zelda V at Faron Prime where the Lizalfos hold her captive.

Upon arriving they are immediately scorned and the people demand exile, dissatisfied with Princess Zelda's rule and the war that had broke out with the Lizalfos. In her absence Hylia announced her return and used her army of Wizzrobes to defend and secure the Kingdom. Regardless of her people's betrayal, Princess Zelda challenges Hylia's authority and is nearly killed in battle, have Link not intervened and threatened to die with her. Instead Hylia exiles both Link and Princess Zelda from all territories controlled by the Kingdom of Hyrule.

A Tale of Two Swords
It is then that Midna, who has been following Link since the attack on the Black Tower, approaches them and offers her personal forces to their aid. She recommends that freeing the Darknut Legion from Gerudo oppression would lead to another potential alliance. After Princess Zelda, Link, and Midna attack the fortress of Baral's Stand and free the Darknut slaves, Yaraxonal agrees to form an alliance to strike back at the Gerudo.

With three small armies under her command, Princess Zelda organizes a plan to bring the various warring powers in Hyrule into an all out brawl from which her forces could strike. She successfully offers to surrender herself to Ganondorf, Akazoo, and Hylia just south of Lon Lon Ranch. The plan works, and Gerudo, Stalfos, and Wizzrobe armies confront each other in a three way battle. The Hylians and Twili attack from the south, while Darknut forces move in from the north. Akazoo and Dethl are destroyed in battle, as well as most of the Stalfos forces, while Hylia surrenders after watching nearly all of her Wizzrobes die in battle. Ganondorf manages to retreat with what little of his forces were left. Pursuing Ganondorf, Link, Zelda, Midna and Yaraxonal confront Moblin forces under the command of Ghirahim, as well as Zant's Twili who had recently entered Hyrule through the Arbiter's Grounds. During the course of the battle Ganondorf, with Nabooru's help, manage to suppress Ganon and surrender to the Hylians, convincing Princess Zelda that he wishes to put an end to Demise's influence over Hyrule. Link and his allies are able to overcome Demise's army, and Ganondorf sacrifices himself to kill Demise.With the rest of the Druthulidi dead, Majora ascends from Termina into Hyrule to enact the final telling of truth. It marches unto Hyrule Prime, effortlessly gains possession of the Triforce, and then destroys the divine relic for all in Hyrule to witness before summoning a moon to crash into the planet and destroy all living beings. This encourages the races of Hyrule to rise and overthrow Majora. Link, Princess Zelda, Rauru, Impa and Midna's army, joined by Darunia's Gorons, Saria's Kokiri and Princess Ruto's Zora, manage to stop Majora with a bombardment from their artillery. Hylia arrives to the battlefield, drawn there by the destruction of the Triforce; the source of all her powers. Majora arises to speak with her, believing her to be an even more insulting being than the Goddesses.

Termina
An unknown amount of time after his death, Link finds his way into Termina, only to discover Majora's up to something new.