Old Man Link

Had a thought today and I just HAD to get it written out so I can share with my fam.

Old Man Logan / Old Man Link.

What if we took the premise from the Marvel Comic: Old Man Logan, and applied it to the world of Hyrule, creating “Old Man Link”?

Nintendo would never do it. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Believe me. 👌

But what if? Wouldn’t that be essentially the coolest setting for a Zelda game ever made? What if they applied this premise to the environment provided in Breath of the Wild? Alter the story so instead of the King being the big old man living alone, it’s Link, who after many years of solitude, was presented with a reason to rise up once last time to save what is left of the wasteland that is Hyrule? A tough, old, battle hardened Link who has no time for games or fetching things for people. A salty cynical link who is tired, and does not even want to save the world anymore, but through the magic of storytelling, is presented with an obligation.

In the movie adaptation of Old Man Logan, “Logan”, Wolverine is old, dying, drunk and essentially done with the bullshit of the world. Everything went to hell and he is just living in it, with no real cares about anyone or anything, including himself. Hero’s are a thing of the past, and Logan is perfectly fine leaving it that way. A damaged, tired, grumpy old and dangerous man.

It’s a little easier to imagine Logan as the old grumpy man who hardly even cares about what he once stood for, than it is for Link. But just imagine… An Ocarina of Time/Majoras Mask era Link, old, seasoned, and lost. Living in what once was. Maybe even give the guy a cigar lol.

Of course we would never see an Old Man Link as violent as Logan, but it would be an interesting thing to experience! Maybe someday we can get some artistic fan fiction, or fan made short game or mod. Time will tell, however until then, we can only imagine.

Update: I posted the idea of this premise to reddit and got some very interesting comments.

“I think you could take the basics of the concept and jave it wprk for an E:10+ rating.

Have a battle hardened Link in his forties-fifties, living during a time where the magic of the royal family is fading and Calamity Ganon has already returned three-five times in his lifetime. This Link is muscular, but his body is wearing down. He’s still noble, but he’s also very, very tired of Ganon and the curse in general. He’s also very aware that he can’t keep this up, and one failed attempt to stop Ganon would not only end in his death, but the destruction of Hyrule and potential annihilation of future reincarnations of himself by the hand of Ganon.

This game would have a sense of finality. The destruction of Ganon as a Calamity, but at the final cost of Link actually having to sacrifice himself to do it. A forceful resurrection of Ganon’s mortal for using Link’s own lifeforce only for the current Zelda to kill that form and reset the cycle for the good of Hyrule.”

“A drunk, old, korok leaf smoking, cursing curmudgeon with bad manners and the most powerful sword in the realm… Impah:”Link, the princess needs you, Hyrule… Needs you”

“Go fuck yourself”

“…” a look of disbelief and shock clear on her face.

Link looks at Impah, sighs and clears his voice:”ha! He! HYAA!” Beforw he turns to his drink, ignoring a stunned Impah completely”

“Cool idea. They will never do it, but sounds good.

I can see the Ocarina of time/Majora’s Mask Link as a tortured soul in his final days, facing a different evil.

Either him or the original NES games Link, which is supposedly the same guy in both.”

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