An eerie fan illustration showing a fan-favorite sub-boss from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time went viral on Twitter.The image, drawn by an artist known as kaags on Twitter, shows Link looking down at his reflection in a pool of water. The image that stares back at him is shrouded in darkness except for a pair of piercing red eyes. This is Dark Link, who faced off against Link in the Water Temple, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's notoriously difficult dungeon. The fan art, originally posted in January, attracted a flurry of attention in 2021 from fans who remember the climactic battle between Links in the 1998 game.
The confrontation with Dark Link occurs midway through the Water Temple, as Link enters a mysterious room filled with an endless lake. Link can walk on the water in this room, and upon first glance, the area appears empty. After exploring and turning around, however, Link will be confronted by his shadowy reflection, and if the player uses Link's fairy friend Navi to target his strange foe for advice, Navi will only say, "Conquer yourself!"
Defeating Dark Link requires skilled usage of all of the items and abilities in Link's repertoire, and easy ways to kill him include using Din's Fire, the Megaton Hammer and the Biggoron Sword -- three of the strongest weapons in the game. Dark Link regularly blocks Link's attacks and possesses the same amount of health as the player, however, making the battle a war of attrition.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was far from Dark Link's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda franchise, nor his last. The doppelganger, whose origins have always been murky and unexplained, was inspired by the end boss of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, a similar entity officially known as Link's Shadow.
Dark Link would go on to make notable appearances in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Outside of the main games in the franchise, Dark Link appeared as an alternate skin for Link throughout the Super Smash Bros. franchise and cameoed as an enemy in the beat 'em up Hyrule Warriors games. The most recent game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, even featured a special armor set that would transform Link into his shadowy counterpart.
Source: Twitter