Young Link

Young Link (子供リンク, Kodomo Rinku, literally "Child Link") is a downloadable character in Hyrule Warriors who originated from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. He is an independent entity from the default Link.

Like his adult counterpart, the boy's thoughts are verbalized by Proxi, albeit, she talks more like Tatl rather than Proxi due to the fact that she talks more blunt, informal and voices her opinion very often.

Character Information
It was in explained by Hisashi Koinuma in a live event interview that the team wanted to make an original fighting style for Young Link in Hyrule Warriors based on the mask transformation system from Majora's Mask, rather than using his standard sword and shield move-set from the game. In terms of his physical appearance, the design team purposefully made him look younger and more innocent compared to his appearance from that game.

Personality
Young Link is a quiet yet determined child. He is not one to back away from a challenge, facing any form of adversity head on with unwavering resolve. As the Hero of Time, he is well experienced in combat, having saved both Hyrule and Termina from various disasters.

But in spite of all the hardships and struggles he has experienced, Link is still a happy youth of nine or ten years. He smiles excitedly and cheers upon completing a powerful attack, or accomplishing missions. Despite the war going on around him, he always finds time to play around and will even giggle while playing around with his Keaton mask during battle.

Gameplay

 * X: Young Link plays the first six notes of the Song of Time on his ocarina to convert his Musou gauge into magic meter. One full Musou bar will fill 1/3 of Young Link's magic meter, while three full Musou bars will fill his magic meter entirely. Using this attack will completely empty Young Link's Musou gauge, including any bars that are not full; non-full bars will not add any magic to Young Link's meter. If used when his magic meter is already full or if his Musou gauge is empty, Young Link will instead put on the Keaton Mask and let out a yell, before giggling and removing the mask. Young Link can dash-cancel this attack very early into its animation; however, his Musou gauge gets converted to his magic gauge near the end of this attack's animation, so dash-cancelling or getting knocked out of it too early will not yield this attack's full effects.
 * Y, X: Performs a jumping vertical slash that knocks enemies into the air. If players press Y while in the air, he will perform a spinning vertical slash while descending towards the ground repeatedly attacking enemies directly near him. If players press X while in the air, he will dive downward and slam his sword into the ground, causing an explosion of energy to knock back surrounding enemies.
 * Y, Y, X: Pulls sword back, then swings it outward horizontally, sending an energy wave out to attack enemies directly in front of him.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Jumps and spins around in the air before planting his sword into the ground, causing an explosion of energy to knock back surrounding enemies.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Performs a powerful upwards slash to knock enemies into the air, and then performs a powerful spin attack to knock back all surrounding enemies.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Young Link dons the Pegasus Boots and dashes around the ground in a triangular movement pattern, performing a series of fast but powerful slashes that pull his enemies into the center of the triangle, while creating the Triforce symbol on the ground. The Triforce then erupts in an explosion of magic energy, sending all enemies flying.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Performs a series of powerful repeated slashes and thrust attacks, before ending his combo string with a front flip while performing a powerful vertical slash downwards during the fall of the flip, and slamming the blade into the ground to knock enemies into the air, then performing a powerful thrusting attack to knock enemies away.


 * A: Young Link puts on the Fierce Deity's Mask and performs a 900° clockwise spin slash with one hand, knocking enemies away at the end of the move.


 * Focus Spirit + A: The Skull Kid appears, followed by the Moon. Fierce Deity Link then performs a powerful vertical downwards slash attack, splitting the moon in two down the middle. The two pieces then explode into a rainbow of colors, damaging enemies and forcing them into the Weak Point state.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Fierce Deity Link pulls his sword back and performs a 540° clockwise spin slash, generating a dome of dark energy around him, knocking enemies away.


 * Weak Point Smash: Young Link puts on the Fierce Deity's Mask and performs a flurry of powerful slash attacks, going from back and forth horizontal slashes, to upward vertical slashes. He ends his assault with a powerful downward diagonal slash that blows his enemy backwards.


 * Guarding + Forward Dodge + Y: When guarding Young Link gets an alternate Forward Dodge animation that has him performs a full body front flip. If Y is pressed afterwards he will then perform a spinning vertical slash while descending towards the ground repeatedly attacking enemies directly near him. (Same as his Y, X, Y)
 * Guarding + Forward Dodge + X: When guarding Young Link gets an alternate Forward Dodge animation that has him performs a full body front flip. If X is pressed afterwards he will dive downward and slam his sword into the ground, causing an explosion of energy to knock back surrounding enemies. (Same as his Y, X, X)


 * Fierce Deity Variation: When using his Focus Spirit, Young Link dons the Fierce Deity Mask and temporarily transforms into Fierce Deity Link. When in this form, Young Link's attack speed, attack power, and attack range greatly increase. All of his slash attacks will generate long-ranged, semi-weak energy beams. This makes Young Link great for dealing with huge crowds, and wiping out large numbers of enemies at a time; the extra sword beams also help Young Link fill his Musou gauge much faster, especially while in large crowds. The extra bursts of energy will not appear during Young Link's few stabbing attacks though; only his slash attacks generate sword beams.

Fighting Style
Unlike his older counterpart, Young Link is a two-handed swordsman who can temporarily transform using the Fierce Deity Mask, gaining incredible levels of power and range for a short period of time. Despite his small size, Young Link is pretty decent at taking out huge groups of enemies due to how quickly he can attack while using Focus Spirit.

Young Link can still use his C1 while using Focus Spirit, so if the player fills up the Musou gauge in any way, players can transfer this to his Magic Bar. This greatly enhances the duration of Young Link's Focus Spirit mode, allowing Young Link to indefinitely stay in Fierce Deity form if he can continuously generate enough Musou gauge.

Badge Materials

 * See also: Hyrule Warriors/Badges

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 * -|Defense Badges=
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