Link (LoZRP)

Following his endeavours in Termina, Link strived to become a knight to better serve the royal family and the kingdom of Hyrule. No one could deny his potential as a warrior, and he quickly climbed the ranks. Having no known birth name, a feasible name was created for him when he was officially knighted - “Sir Lincoln Ó Dúbhshláine”.

Link’s career as a knight ended quite suddenly however during a battle where he was bested and quite badly wounded. The injury festered and Link’s eye needed to be removed consequently, which resulted in a handicap he refused to admit to. His pride cost him the lives of two of his superiors; being unable to see clearly in the heat of battle, Link was unable to protect them, and ultimately they died because of his impeded ability. Unable to bear his shame, Link exiled himself and left the ranks of the royal army.

Years later, Link’s skill has only increased, but he refuses to return to Hyrule to this day, still shamed by his inability to protect his superiors. He wanders the kingdom, sleeping at inns and occasionally in trees. He visits Kakariko and the Kokiri forest infrequently, and occasionally does odd jobs around Lon Lon Ranch when he is in need of extra cash.

Appearance
Link has naturally dirty blonde hair; due to time spent in th e sun, however, it's grown considerably lighter over the years, though his body and facial hair is still a touch darker. He dislikes anyone touching his hair, so he cuts it himself with his own sword - and poorly, at that. His eyes look blue from afar but have flecks of green. Those who know him remark that Link is reasonably attractive, despite looking like he was on the losing side of a war. He's usually unnaturally warm, almost feverishly so. Link is said to smell like soap, sweat, and campfire smoke.

Scars


The most obvious scars Link has are the ones over his eyes; the injury that took his eye left two jagged, parallel scars running from his forehead down his left cheek. Due to the severity of these wounds, they still haven't faded to white to this day, and there's quite a bit of nerve damage there ; if you were to touch Link's face, he'd have intermittent spots where he doesn't feel it. His eye was at the time damaged and had to be removed, so his face was stitched up completely.

There is another scar beneath the opposite eye, which occurred in a bar fight when he got glassed. The blow very narrowly missed his other eye, which Link remarks, "would have been a nasty way to go blind".

He has various other ones on his body, most of which were from mishaps while adventuring in Termina. The most apparent ones are across his shoulder and along his collarbones, which were both narrowly avoided blows from taller opponents. The rest are laceration scars across his torso and his limbs.

There is a long scar along his shoulderblades that is derived from the wound that felled him in the battle where his superiors were forced to sacrifice themselves to save Link's life. He particularly dislikes this one, and tries to keep it covered as often as possible.

Heritage
Link's parentage remains a mystery, as anyone who could confirm or deny his heritage is, at this point, deceased; Link's father was killed during an attack and his mother was mortally wounded as she fled with her son. Through some divine intervention, she made it to the Lost Woods before collapsing. Before she died, Saria stumbled upon her and her infant child. Her dying words were her son's name - "Link" - and a plea to protect him. The Kokiri buried the woman beneath one of the trees in the Lost Woods.

There is speculation as to whether Link is a trueborn son to an unfortunate couple or whether he is a bastard. Without any solid leads as to who his parents might have been, however, these speculations will remain as such until any evidence of his lineage is unearthed.

The Seven Year Trials
“They will leave the daring crippled for their efforts, with scars to remind them of the price of freedom, the price of selflessness, the price of courage…”

When Link first pulled the master sword from its pedestal, he was unprepared - both mentally and physically - to be a fit wielder of the blade. His mind and body were trapped, but while his physical form was trapped in a sort of coma, Link's mind entered a different dimension.

Time passed normally here, and so the seven years were not spent with Link being unconscious. Instead, he was kept in a sort of sprawling countryside area, made to look like training grounds. Over the next five years, Link was trained to be proficient with various types of weaponry, which included training him in the ways of magic so that he might be more able to wield it. What resulted was a soldier with a widely varied skillset and a decent grasp on offensive magic, though he never quite got the hang of defensive or healing magic.

His trainers took many forms, though he never learned their names as they appeared as rather shapeless shadows of individuals rather than flesh and blood humans. Link had tutors for battle arts and strategy as well as water movement and agility exercises. After five years, he surpassed each and every one of his trainers, and before long there was nothing left that they could teach him.

The final two years of his training grew to encompass darker themes of loss and despair. Over the course of his training, the landscape had grown more sinister, the once green fields fading into a barren wasteland. Link learned the hardships of famine and drought, and his training began to take a toll on his body which, in turn, began to affect his mental state. At times he was required to rescue his loved ones - Saria, Zelda, Malon, Navi - but failed these trials as they approached. It was through this, however, that Link learned the importance of carrying on despite the pain he was in, and it was only after he had achieved this mental fortitude that his trials were complete.

In the final moments of his trials, Link met the goddess Farore. After congratulating him on his progress, she proclaimed him a true hero, prepared to take on the wrath of Ganondorf. Farore granted Link a boon, offering to erase the memories of the hardship that he endured in the final two years of his training. Link accepted, selfishly wanting to forget the pain of loss he had experienced, and as soon as Farore touched his forehead he awoke with Rauru, prepared to embark on his adventure.

While Link is aware that he is seventeen - or somewhere around that age - as he leaves the Temple of Time, he is unaware of exactly what happened during the seven years he was elsewhere. He recalls what he learned perfectly, though he cannot exactly explain why, and the lessons he learned during his trials present themselves as natural gifts of battle prowess and emotional wisdom. There are times when he recalls particular moments in his training while in sleep - I'd imagine these could be dreams influenced by Farore if she feels he needs to remember something specific to whatever situation he finds himself in.