Link Gustaf II (Total War)

"Now with all that nonsense in the past, I'd like to formally introduce myself. I am Link, son of Arn."

- Link introducing himself to Tetra.

Link Gustaf was the First Knight of the Order of the Wizzrobe, the lost Heir of Rhoaban Gustaf I, and the first King of the Gustaf-Nohansen Dynasty alongside his wife Tetralyna Nohansen Zelda V.

First Golden Age
Link is born in the hidden Kingdom of Calatia, a kingdom founded and populated by the children of Rhoaban Gustaf I and the House's various surviving bannermen, who fled Akkala after the king was assassinated and his loyalists were slaughtered and driven away. Link himself is a direct descendant of the first Akkalan king. During his time in Calatia, Link would often stay with his grandmother in Lanayru Province.

At some point in his childhood, Link is taken by his mother to Gundrumether, leaving Link's father and younger sister behind. Over the course of this period of his childhood, she would bring a series of step-fathers into his life, and often leave him in the care of his uncle, a soldier in the Hylian army. During this time of his life, Link would frequently move between Hyrule Castle Town and Vigjaro.

Gerudo Wars
Both Link's mother and uncle die early 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 put 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 of 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 trade way 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 they 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 bring 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.

During the march to Vigjaro, when juggling the Malmord he accidentally imprisons himself inside it, much to Princess Zelda's displeasure. While he is soon rescued by a mysterious woman named Liyer who breaks the Malmord on a rock, his initial plan to secretly bring the captive Princess to Hylia is ruined. When talking to Liyer afterward, he suddenly sees Princess Zelda wreathed in flames, although the flames seem to leave no burns behind. Soon after King Kazakk discovers Zelda and comes to her aid, further ruining Link's plan.Link then unexpectedly sees Carock apparently coming to capture Zelda. Carock questions him about how the Princess is no longer in captivity and informs him about his mission to take Zelda back to Vigjaro. Link is further bewildered when Zelda tells him that Carock is going to burn the Hylian soldiers; her prediction is immediately proven correct when an army of Wizzrobe Pyromancers appear and ambush the Hylians.

During the ensuing battle, when attempting to bring Zelda to safety, Link is confronted by Carock. Carock gains the upper hand over him and proceeds to imprison him and Zelda in a block of ice, though Kazakk comes to his aid and injures Carock, forcing him and the rest of the Wizzrobes to retreat.

After the battle, Zelda explains to Link her prophetic powers: ever since she was a child I would dream of events, and every time she dreams flames would appear, but no one believed her until Link. Not knowing what to do, Link decides to bring Zelda to Vigjaro and see what Hylia would do. Zelda dissuades him by saying that Hylia is not who she says she is and that they should get away from her, but Link expresses his doubt since the False Goddess has practically raised him as a mother since the end of the Gerudo Wars.

The two flee into Gohma-infested Lanayru Province, arriving near the town of Panacle Cove, which is currently being attacked by Sulkaris. They reunite with the combined Hylian and Lanayru forces and help devise a plan to liberate the town by agitating the local Arurodas in the middle of the breeding season to attack the Gohma. The plan works, but Link inadvertently disturbs a Moldarach and is nearly killed, but with Aydia's aid manages to lure it to attack the Gohma. It is quickly killed by Sulkaris, who attacks the Hylians and Zora, effortlessly killing many of them and nearly slaying Link, before Liyer saves him by confronting Sulkaris. Spurred by another of Tetralyna's visions, the army races to save the Zora city of Greshou, trailing Sulkaris' hordes, while themselves unknowingly being tracked by another Wizzrobe army led by Lana. On the way to Greshou, Link and Tetralyna share a peaceful moment, commenting on the ocean and foreshadowing the young Princess' future as leader of New Hyrule.

Link and the Hyrulean army arrive in Greshou relatively unscathed and continue in helping the Zora fight the Gohma threat. After Malkorbagia's death, they witness the arrival of the Sky City and Demoko's Oocca armies. Most soldiers and civilians evacuate from the city as it's being destroyed by Oocca's unearthly machines, while Link foolishly stays behind fighting the Gohma to death. At the last moment before the Aura can destroy him, he is saved by Lana who warps him to safety. Link, Zelda, Rauru, and Ruto continue their march to Death Mountain to warn Gorons of their imminent demise.

On Death Mountain, Zelda convinces Darunia to evacuate the Goron population. Link is put in the frontlines along with Darunia and Dangoro as Goron civilians escape along the side trails. Despite the death of many Goron warriors, they are successful in their goal and hide in caves as the Aura strikes Death Mountain, killing several Sages and their armies along with them. Goron armies reunite with those of Hylians, celebrating and feasting their recent victories by dancing and playing music. Link himself shows off his skills with an ocarina and bonding with his former partner.

Agitha and Mido eventually arrive at the scene along with King Daphnes, Laruto, and Aydia. Agitha proposes a temporary alliance against the Oocca, a trade considered controversial but needed by the negotiators. Link is shocked and saddened at the knowledge of the Great Deku Tree's death. An alliance is formed, and together, the armies of Hylians, Gohma, Gorons, and Lanayru assault the Oocca Mustering Base. During the assault, they engage Ooccoo, who proves to be a formidable foe but has her magic shield broken by one of Link's explosives. Ooccoo is interrogate, nd revealed to in fact be the Queen of the Wind Tribe, Siroc. Link takes the opportunity to tell everyone of Ooccoo's secret relationship with King Gustaf, and her secret living descendant, showing off his Kingstone piece. Ooccoo lets Link to enter the Sky City with the promise of reuniting her with her lost descendant.

Upon entering the Sky City, Link is acquainted with the strange society of the Oocca. Notably, an Oocca referred to as Junior, who is described by Link as creepy. Demoko is initially reluctant to even speak with Link, but is comforted by his claims of Demoko having a chance at redemption by atoning for his deeds and helping the Hylians. This conversation is cut short by Agitha's performance at the center of the City. Link is shocked and disgusted at her brutal sacrifice to Sulkaris.

As Demoko is preparing to surrender, Link suggests getting rid of the City's source of Aura so that Sulkaris cannot use it. While Ooccoo is hesitant, Demoko sees this as a perfect plan, and orders Link and Ooccoo to set up Walker Cannons along the outer perimeter and destroy the source of the Aura itself. Upon arriving at the source, they are transported into a strange otherworldly room, from which an unknown celestial body can be seen. Ooccoo notes that the Master Sword seems to be glowing with Aura. Though floating in the air, Ooccoo devises a plan to knock the cube that is the source of the Aura to the ground, where Link impales it.

Immediately upon sensing the cube's destruction, Demoko orders the Walker Cannons to fire at his castle, blowing half of the Sky City from the Sky. Link, along with several other survivors use the remaining portal to warm themselves back to the surface of Hyrule to confront the wounded Sulkaris and her Gohma. While the Sages run off to Hyrule Prime, Link and Aydia once again fight alongside each other, this time to combat the newly arrived Matriarch. Though they only manage to drive it away, they manage to destroy the Gohma nest.

Link runs off to Hyrule Prime to reinforce the Sages, who have already been defeated by the Fallen Sage. Link chats with the wounded Liyer, who reminds him he owes her a Chardonnay Hateno, and that there must be a way to defeat Sulkaris. Link enters the Temple of Time and is lectured by the Fallen Sage about bloodlines. After threatening to kill her over and over again, Sulkaris titles him as the Heir of King Gustaf and engages him. Unlike the last time, Link is able to seriously wound Sulkaris many times as she fails to land a strike until she tackles him hard enough to break through the Temple wall. Link gives his shield to Saria, who is given the task of distracting Sulkaris as other Sages join the fight. Link fires a boobytrapped arrow, which exploded in Sulkaris' face, blowing off her helmet, her left arm, and half of her face, before she is finally decapitated.

Link and the Sages celebrate victory as they plan an incursion to Misery Mire. When the question of how they should even get into the Misery Mire comes up, Mido shows himself, requesting a full pardon for his help.

Unique Bonuses
Link is a hard line Infantry commander. His Blood of Gustaf ability and Hyron Tactics tech add quite a few powerful buffs to the Hylian's already potent infantry. Legendary Training allows him to pump out batches of units from a Barrack with increased speed. Knights in particular can be fielded with frightening speed as Legendary Training combined with the Heir of Gustaf passive allows batches of them to be created 60% faster than the other Heroes can produce them. Link's Unique Unit, the Champion Knight, is a powerful melee unit on its own. When in formation with an army of infantry it provides quite an armor bonus. Choose Link if you want to produce a large army of melee Infantry, in particular t,he Kingdom's powerful Knight units.

Unique Abilities
Link is a powerful and reckless hero who can fight off against crowds of units with ease. At his earlier levels he only really excels against groups of smaller units, it's at his higher levels he gains the power to take on larger foes. Once he hits level 5 Link even has the chance to deal critical hits against Titans, an attribute no other Hero has. Link's armor is somewhat lacking even with his decent health pool and aggressive stance, so despite his power it's best to keep an eye on him and make sure he's not facing enemies with very high attack damage. Even though his armor stats are not particularly high, he does have a very powerful Shield bonus, making him quite resistant to most ranged attacks.

Trivia

 * In the Hyrule Historia Mission "Seeds of Conspiracy," Link's first line to Princess Zelda V is a reference to Link's "catchphrase" in the ill-received and short-lived Legend of Zelda cartoon series.
 * This game, the Twilight Princess manga, the Zelda cartoon and the CDI games are the only instances where Link is non-silent and has his own personality. In most games and manga, Link doesn't speak. Like the Twilight Princess manga, Link talking in this game didn't generate massive amount of backlash on the internet.