You guys don’t know what I’m talking about though so I’ll explain.
It’s time I give you(my nonexistent followers haha) my third Link OC, the Hero of The Calamity. Game Title: Eye of The Calamity.
You could probably guess based on the name, but this is the guy from the tapestry in BOTW, except he’s not the Aspect from TOTK due to the way I’ve organized the timeline.. it’s weird, okay, but hear me out:
The Zonai are first, they found an ancient civilization and then die off, their descendants becoming the Sheikah Tribe. One of these descendants, a member of the current royal family know as Hylia, ends up ascending to godhood. She’s tasked with guarding the Triforce, she fights demise, yada yada. You know that part, anyway the important bit here is that Hylia would’ve been born mortal and would’ve been a member of this Proto-Sheikah Group. Upon her death, she would’ve tasked her brothers and sisters with watching over the surface. And that’s where we get The Sheikah! And why am I talking about the Sheikah Tribe so much? BECAUSE THIS LINK IS APART OF IT!
Okay, let me explain him now.
So Link(or Calamity) is born to the Sheikah Tribe(though he’s actually only half Sheikah), except to actually explain any of his story we have to go back a bit. Enter the War of Eras. Now, I know Hyrule Warriors isn’t Cannon, but neither is anything else on here so bear with me.
A lot of people die in the war, and so the Sheikah, fearing the cost of another war, start looking for alternatives, for something to replace the soldiers. They come up with the guardians, mechanical soldiers to fight their battles for them. A way to save lives.. but as they witness the power of their creations, they get another idea. What if it wasn’t just soldiers that didn’t have to risk their life? What if nobody needed to lift a blade again? What if they didn’t need a hero anymore? An idea that started rather innocently, but soon grew, until it was no longer about helping people, but about glory, about them being the heroes, and being praised as the shining light that saved Hyrule. I’m basically going with a narrative that the Sheikah Tech was never a good thing, it was never some amazing world saving invention, but rather was corrupt from the beginning. It wasn’t made to aid the hero, it was made to replace them.
And so our story (officially) starts! With Link growing up in the Sheikah Tribe being told all about how the Sheikah Tech is so cool and going to save everyone. There’s a lot of other things I could say about growing up in the Sheikah Tribe, but that stuff isn’t important to the plot. What is important to the plot however is Zelda, because she’s pissed. Her entire life she’s been telling everyone that they need to find the hero, that they need the hero, they need the sword, they need the magic, her magic. They can’t just defeat darkness with raw power, they need light. But of course, nobody listens to her(her and Link are like 12/13 btw). So, finally, she takes matters into her own hands, and that’s how Link awakes to a voice in his head telling him to come and meet her. Now, this is where we get to the point I actually wanted to talk about, because this is a story about heritage. It’s about Link growing up being told they don’t need a hero only to be forced to abandon that idea and become the hero, it’s about how Link has to go against his people to compete his mission. It’s about truth, and how one’s magic is strongest when they’re true to themselves. It’s about how Link is part of the Sheikah Tribe and the Sheikah Tribe are descendants of the Zonai and on his quest Link earns the blessings of the three Zonai Dragons. It’s about how Link goes against everything he’s been told in order to meet his destiny and find his truth, and how in the end that brings him closer to his culture than ever before.
It’s about tradition, and so, when Zelda tells him he needs to be the hero? He hesitates. He hesitates because he trusts his people, and he trusts what they tell him, and if they tell they don’t need a hero then why should he suddenly take up the mantle? It’s a relatively normal reaction, but for Zelda? This is the hero, the one person who’s supposed to be on her side, and now he’s denying her claims as well. And she is mad. She walks right up to him and slaps him across the face, she demands: “Do you care about the people of Hyrule? Do you want to protect them? If you were ordered to let them die would you?!”
And that’s how Calamity starts his quest! With a slap across the face and an ultimatum: his tribe, or the world?
Anyway he’s like one of my favorites to play around with, his identity and his relationship with the Sheikah Tribe are just so interesting, and that’s not even touching on the Yiga stuff, having to watch as the people who you you used to trust and look up to turn on you.
