Hero's Clothes

Hero's Clothes
Artwork of the Hero's Clothes from The Wind Waker
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda (1987)
Appearances	The Legend of Zelda The Adventure of Link A Link to the Past Link's Awakening Ocarina of Time Majora's Mask Oracle of Ages Oracle of Seasons Four Swords The Wind Waker Four Swords Adventures The Minish Cap Twilight Princess Phantom Hourglass Spirit Tracks Skyward Sword A Link Between Worlds Tri Force Heroes Breath of the Wild Hyrule Warriors
Use	Clothing/Armor

"On a certain island, it became customary to garb boys in green when they came of age."

— The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Prologue

The Hero's Clothes (勇者の服, Yūsha no Fuku^?) is a recurring garb in the Legend of Zelda series. Specifically, it is the name given to the iconic outfit worn by Link in nearly all games in the series. Over the lifespan of the franchise, some design elements have shifted, but Link's famous green tunic and hat are features common to all of the outfit's incarnations. While earlier games imply little or no significance to these clothes, their recurrence has caused later games to explore their history and meaning behind them.

As they are Link's signature clothing, whenever he makes a cameo or playable appearance in game another franchise, he is usually wearing these clothes.

History and design

Earlier games

The early version of the Hero's Clothes are characterized by little or no mention of their significance within each Legend of Zelda game. Because of the limited technology at the time, older Zelda games could only display a few details of Link's clothes (aside from the fact they are green) and Link's outfit and character design is seen only in accompanying art as well as early animated productions. During this period Link wears a green hat with a yellow stripe around the brim, a green sleeveless roughly cut tunic and a brown undershirt. He also wore brown leather cuff boots and a matching belt. Brown leggings were often worn as well, though he sometimes went without them.

The early version of Link's clothes gradually gave way to the "Modern" version. However they've reappeared in titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and most recently in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Other references

These clothes are also referenced in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild where it appears a special armor set based on Link's classic Hero's Clothes from the early games. This set appears as a realistic take on the clothes worn by Link in official artwork for those early titles. Additionally, the design of Link's Breath of the Wild set of Hero's Clothes is partially based on Link's classic clothes, though with the addition of modern elements such as Link's blue earrings and more rugged looking design to fit with the wilderness theme of Breath of the Wild.

In the Hyrule Warriors sub-series, it appears in the form of Classic Tunic alternate costume skin which makes Link look resemble his classic design artwork and even features Link's original hair color.

Three-dimensional version

Owing to the powerful mechanics of the Nintendo 64, the modern version of the Hero's Clothes was introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the first 3-dimensional Legend of Zelda game. This version is characterized by a set of white leggings and undershirt beneath the green tunic, and a three-point belt where the scabbard of the Master Sword is strapped to Link's back. The brown sleeves are replaced by brown gauntlets. Along with the "Toon" version, more emphasis began to be placed into explaining the significance of the green outfit.

Chainmail versions

In games such as Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, the Hero Clothes worn by the Hero of Twilight and Hero of the Sky feature the addition of chainmail to make it more realistic and make it appear more practical for a hero to wear. The Twilight Princess version is also a darker shade of green.

The Skyward Sword version also introduces the earliest origin for the hero's tradition garb, where it is revealed that it was the uniform worn by the Knights of Skyloft and senior cadets of the Knights Academy as a reward for passing their Wing Ceremony graduation test. It turns out that the tunics color changes each semester and that its green color was simply selected as the color for that year. The chainmail armor is also explained by the fact that it is worn as a uniform of the Knights of Skyloft, thus is designed to protect its wearer.

Armor Sets

In Breath of the Wild, the Hero's Clothes no longer appear as Link's default or standard outfit as the game features a new more realistic armor system, allowing Link to change his clothes similar to the Outfits in The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes. The Hero's Clothes do, however, appear in the form of several armor sets. Like other armors in the game, these armor sets can be upgraded though they all grant the same set bonus. The main set for Breath of the Wild is completely optional, and can be obtained from a side quest received by completing all 120 Shrines; thus, it is obtained late in the game, in contrast to the rest of the series.

It is also the first game in the series where clothing based on other incarnations of Link can be obtained. These include a realistic version of Link's classic clothes and the Hero of Wind's clothes, Adult Link's Hero Clothes from Ocarina of Time, and clothing from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Unlike the Breath of the Wild version, these are all obtained randomly via certain amiibo and cannot be dyed, though can still be upgraded like the Breath of the Wild set.

Classic Hero's Clothes Set

Cap of the Hero

Tunic of the Hero

Trousers of the Hero

Hero's Clothes of Time Set

Cap of Time

Tunic of Time

Trousers of Time

Hero's Clothes of the Wind Set

Cap of the Wind

Tunic of the Wind

Trousers of the Wind

Hero's Clothes of Twilight Set

Cap of Twilight

Tunic of Twilight

Trousers of Twilight

Hero's Clothes of the Sky Set

Cap of the Sky

Tunic of the Sky

Trousers of the Sky

Hero's Clothes of the Wild Set

Cap of the Wild

Tunic of the Wild

Trousers of the Wild

Dark Link version

Additionally, Breath of the Wild features an armor set based on Dark Link from Ocarina of Time; its design is nearly identical to the Hero of Time set, the only differences being the clothes' dark coloration, glowing red eyes, and altering of Link's skin tone to match Dark Link's.

Dark Replica Hero's Clothes Set

Dark Hood

Dark Tunic

Dark Trousers

Toon version

The "Toon" version of the Hero's Clothes debuted with the distinctive cel-shaded graphics of the The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and is an alternative style to Link's outfit in more "realistic" games in the series. This style accounts for games such as The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Aside from the obvious "Toon" style, it is characterized by white leggings, light green undershirt, and a spiral design on the belt buckle. There are no gloves or three-point belt, and the style of character design causes Link's boots to become quite minimized.

In Breath of the Wild, the Hero of Wind armor set is based on this version, and retains most of the original's design elements. The cap also alters Link's hairstyle to match Toon Link's (though he retains his original hair color) and causes his default blue earrings to be removed while it is worn.

Notable appearances

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask

The design of the Hero's Clothes are no longer considered unique; all Kokiri wear green tunics with green hats, and so, Link, who had been raised among them, wore them as well. This was the first appearance of the "Modern" version of the Hero's Clothes. While the Kokiri Tunic that Link wears as a child is similar to the "Early" version, the brown sleeves seen on extra-game art of the latter are not included in the game. Adult Link's outfit however, introduces numerous new features such as white leggings, white undershirt sleeves, brown gauntlets, and expands the tunic's belt into a three-point belt for the scabbard of the Master Sword (which did not appear on his in-game model, only appearing in official artwork) to be strapped to his back (leaving the question as to how the Kokiri Sword or Master Sword stayed in the same position without it). This was later rectified in Ocarina of Time 3D as both Child and Adult Link forms wear a three-point belt just as he did in the original artwork for Ocarina of Time. In Majora's Mask, the Child Link continues his adventures and continues to wear the same clothing, though now with the three-point belt. When Link transforms into another creature with one of the masks, he wears brown gauntlets, which could be a reference to Adult Link wearing brown gauntlets in Ocarina of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons

The final appearance of the early version until A Link Between Worlds. Link's outfit includes the white leggings introduced in Ocarina of Time, but retains the brown sleeves of the early version.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

During the beginning of The Wind Waker, Link is wearing blue islander-style clothing with a recognizable crawfish design and khaki pants. It is considered tradition on Outset Island to dress boys in a green tunic and hat like the Hero of Time when they come of age, and the apparel is given to him by his grandmother. Link is still wearing the clothing when he suddenly finds himself forced to go out to sea to save his sister, Aryll. During the Second Quest, Link receives the Hero's New Clothes instead, a set of invisible clothes that can only be seen by those who are honest; for the duration of this playthrough, Link is thus seen wearing the default islander clothing.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Link starts with green clothes but has no cap. He eventually finds Ezlo, a Minish sage who has been transformed into a shape similar to a hat. The two team up, and Ezlo positions himself on top of Link's head; effectively a make-shift cap. After Link has defeated Vaati, Ezlo, now having been returned to his true shape, presents Link with a hat similar to what he looked like when he served as Link's hat.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and Four Sword Adventures

Link is magically separated into four pieces by the Four Sword, and the four go on an adventure to find the six maidens and Zelda. They wear a two dimensional style of the "Toon" tunic. There are four colors of the tunic; they are green, red, blue, and violet.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

During the beginning of the game, Link is wearing simple Ranch Clothes, very similar to the clothes used by everyone else in Ordon. Further in the game, Link is transformed into a wolf by the power of Twilight. The only thing keeping him from turning into a wandering spirit, like nearly everyone else when Twilight appears, is the Triforce of Courage. After a short while, Link meets Faron, one of the Light Spirits. Faron tells him that the only way for him to return to his normal form, is to fill a Vessel of Light with Tears of Light, effectively dissipating the Twilight infesting the Faron Province. Once he has completed this, the Faron Province is returned to the light, and Link is returned to his human form; however, he now wears the green clothes once worn by his ancestor who was the Hero of Time. Faron explains that since Link is a successor to the ancient Hero he also granted him the clothes. These clothes were noted by it's original wearer when he first encountered his descendant. Interestingly, these clothes look different to the ones Link wears in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, in terms of size and design.

The most significant development of the Hero's Clothes in Twilight Princess is the inclusion of a layer of chain-mail between the tunic and the undershirt. This actually gives the Hero's Clothes a significant defensive advantage over Link's Ordon clothing or his wolf form, halving all damage taken.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

This green three-piece outfit, complete with a green hat, is worn by recruits for the Hyrulean Soldiers until they are promoted to the rank of soldier. After summoning Link to her personal chambers in Hyrule Castle, Princess Zelda gives one to the hero for him to use as a disguise. With the help of his disguise, Link successfully sneaks Zelda out of the castle. The Recruit Uniform is identical in appearance to the Hero's Clothes, the green garb worn by Link in other games in the series, and is thus potentially based on the clothes worn by the Link who first discovered New Hyrule. Strangely, the Recruit Uniform worn by the recruit in the castle has a simple silver belt buckle, as opposed to the yellow swirled belt buckle on Link's set of clothes.

Despite there being no real need to wear the Recruit Uniform after Zelda's escape, Link continues to wear it rather than his engineer's uniform. The Recruit Uniform can be switched out for the engineer's uniform later in the game if fifteen stamps are shown to Niko.

Link's Recruit Uniform is taken as proof that he is a soldier of Hyrule, but interestingly, an Out-of-place Soldier in Disorientation Station sees Link as a soldier even if Link has chosen to change back to his Engineer's Clothes.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Hero's Clothes make an appearance. They are actually one version of the uniform worn by the Knights of Skyloft, and Link's peers at the Knight Academy can be seen wearing alternate versions of the outfit. While Link's version of the uniform closely resembles the Hero's Clothes worn by Link in Twilight Princess, in terms of style and design, it does feature some noticeable changes: Firstly, the belt buckle is now silver colored rather than brass, and has a slightly more circular shape than the rectangular brass buckles. Secondly, the chain mail worn between the tunic and undershirt is now also of a silver color, as opposed to a golden color in Twilight Princess. Lastly, Link's leggings are a darker brown color instead of almost pure white, and are noticeably baggier than previously, which were often seen as being skintight or slim-fitting.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The classic outfit finally appears in 3D. This version of Link's clothes looks like the one from the Oracle games. With white tights under the original sleeveless tunic, brown undershirt and yellow brimmed cap. But it also adds an ornate gold wristband on his left arm.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

It is an obtainable outfit that Link can equip and is the first outfit Link obtains from Madame Couture, to replace his unfashionable Bear Minimum Digs. It is made with the Hytopian Silk that Link receives from Sir Combsly and costs zero Rupees. It has no other abilities. The Hero Tunic is based on the Hero's Clothes worn by Link in cel-shaded games, beginning with The Wind Waker.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Link wearing the Breath of the Wild Hero's Clothes

Once all 120 Shrines are completed, this set is obtained as a reward from the Sheikah Monks after completing the side quest "A Gift from the Monks". Link receives the "Wild" armor set specific to Breath of the Wild, comprised of the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Wild. When worn, the set depicts a new version of the Link's classic tunic of The Legend of Zelda, but with the additional blue earrings, and it increases the power of the Master Sword's Sword Beams via its set bonus "Master Sword Beam Up" once all three pieces have been upgraded to two stars. This "Wild" armor set serves as the Breath of the Wild version of the Hero's Clothes. Each piece of this set can be dyed different colors at the Kochi Dye Shop, making it the only set of Hero's Clothes that can be dyed.

Link wearing the Ocarina of Time Hero's Clothes

The other sets are obtained by using the amiibo Rune of the Sheikah Slate with certain amiibo, though can only be upgraded, cannot be dyed, and some provide special weapons wielded by the hero the clothes represent provided Link has accomplished certain tasks, though their Hero's Clothes will drop randomly as soon as Link acquires any rune on the Great Plateau and activates the amiibo Rune:

• The 8-Bit Link amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary series unlocks the "Hero" set, comprising the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Hero, and depicts Link wearing the original clothing from The Legend of Zelda. Additionally the amiibo also allows Link to acquire a special Sword inspired by the original game.
• The Link Ocarina of Time amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary series unlocks the "Time" set, comprising the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of Time, and depicts Adult Link wearing the Kokiri Tunic and Kokiri Boots from Ocarina of Time. Additionally the amiibo also allows Link to acquire the Hero of Time's classic two-handed weapon, the Biggoron's Sword.
• The two Toon Link amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary and the Super Smash Bros. series unlock the "Wind" set, comprising the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Wind, and depicted the Hero of Wind from The Wind Waker. Additionally the amiibo also allows Link to acquire the Sea-Breeze Boomerang based on the boomerang wielded by the Hero of Wind. The Hero of Wind's Hero's Shield can be obtained as well though it requires the Toon Zelda amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary series.
• The Link Twilight Princess amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary series and the Super Smash Bros. Link amiibo unlock the "Twilight" set, comprising the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of Twilight, and depicts Link wearing the original Hero's Clothes from Twilight Princess. Incidentally the Cap, Tunic, and Trousers all make references to the Hero of Twilight's Wolf form in their descriptions who appears as a summoned companion using to Wolf Link amiibo. Using either two Link amiibo in any area accessible to Horses will cause Epona to spawn the first time it is used within such an area. Epona is a special Horse whom cannot be named and recieves a special bridle and saddle due to her legendary status. Additionally Link can acquire the Sword of the Six Sages using the Ganondorf amiibo and Twilight Bow using the Zelda amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. series.
• The Link Skyward Sword amiibo from the The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary series unlocks the "Sky" set, comprising the Cap, Tunic and Trousers of the Sky, and depicts Link wearing the original Hero's Clothes from Skyward Sword. Additionally the amiibo also allows Link to acquire the Goddess Sword which is depicted in Breath of the Wild as a separate sword from the Master Sword.

All of these sets increases the damage of the Master Sword's beams. Breath of the Wild is also the first one of the main The Legend of Zelda series to propose past references of the Hero's Clothes as obtainable outfits furthermore divided in three pieces of armor set. Link can thus match or mix the Hero's Clothes types. All of these sets, except for the "Wild" set, are made of a fabric that prevents dying at the Kochi Dye Shop. However Link can still upgrade them via Great Fairies but they tend to require rare materials such as Star Fragments and Dragon parts. Also amiibo only unlock a Treasure Chest containing randomly a single piece of armor set requiring to use the amiibo multiple times to complete each set. All these armor pieces can be sold to shops and merchants. Unlike the "Wild" armor set serving as the Breath of the Wild version, other Hero's Clothes featuring sets in reference to previous games cannot be dyed different colors due to their fabric according to Sayge.

Link wearing the "Dark Link" armor set in Breath of the Wild

A reference to the Hero's Clothes appears through the "Dark" armor set obtained from the Fang and Bone after freeing all four Divine Beasts and comprising the Dark Hood, Tunic and Trousers. According to their description, they are based on the clothing worn by Dark Link suggesting that the tunics worn by the various incarnations of Dark Link are spurious replicas of the Hero's Clothes. The "Dark" armor set was created by Kilton based on his research of a monster born of shadow which may be Dark Link or an incarnation of him, and thus the set is a replica of Dark Link's clothes that makes Link resemble Dark Link when worn. The "Dark Link" set is apparently modelled after Dark Link's Ocarina of Time incarnation as they are basically a Dark Link recolor of the Hero of Time set's model. However the "Dark Link" set can be acquired through normal gameplay and grants the Night Speed Up set bonus though cannot be upgraded or dyed. Additionally other NPCs react frightened of Link when the set is worn as it makes him look evil like Dark Link though this effect occurs with certain other sets. NPCs will still however converse normally when spoken to.

Other appearances

Subseries warning: This article or section contains information on a subseries within the Legend of Zelda series and should be considered part of its own separate canon.

Hyrule Warriors

The Hero's Clothes on a table in Zelda's Bedchamber

A version of Link's Hero's Clothes appears in Hyrule Warriors. They are first seen on a table near Zelda's bed after being woken up by a prophetic vision of darkness descending on Hyrule. After a young Hyrulean Forces trainee named Link helps the Hyrulean Forces defeat Volga and King Dodongo, Impa recognizes Link as the reborn Hero of Legend and gives him the Hero's Clothes. Its most recognizable addition is a long blue scarf that features the seal of the Royal Family of Hyrule at its end. This serves as Link's standard outfit and replaces his Trainee Tunic for the rest of the story. There are also several recolors of this outfit that can be unlocked.

The DLC Hero's Tunics from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword appear under the names "Era of Twilight Tunic" and "Knight of Skyloft Tunic", respectively. The Hero of Time DLC Hero's Clothes appear under the name Kokiri Tunic. Young Link also wears his Kokiri Tunic from Majora's Mask as his default outfit. Link's original tunic from the first three Legend of Zelda games, appears under the name "Classic Tunic".

Hyrule Warriors Legends

Linkle's Hero's Clothes in the opening cutscene of Linkle's Tale

The Wind Waker version of the Hero's Clothes appears as Toon Link's default outfit in the 3DS revision, Hyrule Warriors Legends.

Linkle wears her own unique version of the Hero's Clothes, featuring a hood, a special Compass, and a pair of thigh-high boots which she uses to holster her Crossbows.

The Hero's Clothes also appears as a Fairy Clothing option for Companion Fairies. There are five versions:

• Hero's Clothes (Red): Fire Elemental Attribute
• Hero's Clothes (Blue): Water Elemental Attribute
• Hero's Clothes (Yellow): Lightning Elemental Attribute
• Hero's Clothes (Green): Light Elemental Attribute
• Hero's Clothes (Purple): Darkness Elemental Attribute

Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.

Theory

Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.

Because the Link in Skyward Sword was the first hero chosen by the gods, and the Knights of Skyloft are seen wearing the Hero's Clothes, it is possible that this is where they originated from, and have been passed down from this incarnation of Link. It is also possible that the Hero of Time was the one who passed down, as shown in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

Theory warning: Theories end here.

Gallery

The Hero Tunic from Tri Force Heroes

Link wearing the Classic Hero's Clothes Armor Set in Breath of the Wild

Link wearing the Hero's Clothes of the Wind Armor Set in Breath of the Wild

Link wearing the Hero's Clothes of Twilight Armor Set in Breath of the Wild

Link wearing his Classic Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors

Link wearing his Era of the Hero of Time Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors

Young Link wearing his Era of the Hero of Time Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors

Toon Link wearing his Era of the Great Sea Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors Legends

Link wearing his Era of Twilight Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors

Link wearing his Era of Skyloft Hero's Clothes from Hyrule Warriors