The Magician is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Ganon) of the 1987 action role-playing game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Although only mentioned in the manual, the magician is responsible for the main conflict in the plot.
Appearance[]
The Magician resembles a pale-skinned human with red eyes. He primarily is dressed in a dark cloak and wears a necklace with a horned skull on it.
In the Ran Maru manga, the Magician wears a smiling theatrical mask with two long bangs of hair sticking out from the sides. Underneath the mask, the magician resembles an ordinary hylian man. After the Ganon revival goes wrong, the Magician starts aging at a rapid rate and thus appears at different ages.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Magician was capable of using a spell that put this game's zelda to sleep at the expense of his life force. He also seemed to be capable of residing within shadows if the first piece of artwork showing him is anything to go by. The Magician seemed to be charismatic, as he was able to get close to the royal family of Hyrule having once been close with the King and being the Prince's closest confidant.
Biography[]
Many ages ago, Hyrule was in a golden age due to the King of Hyrule protecting the land with the full Triforce. However the King was still mortal and age started to catch up with him, so it came to be that he had to figure who would inherit the Triforce when he died. The King was unsure about his son's moral character, especially since the boy had started going to the mysterious magician for decision-making. Knowing the full Triforce if misused, would lead to much suffering and evil, the King only left the Triforce of Wisdom and Power to his Prince upon his death.
The Prince searched high and low for the Triforce of Courage, but found nothing until the Magician, once a close advisor to the King, brought him important news. On his deathbed, the King had revealed the location of Triforce of Courage to his daughter and the Prince's sister.
The Prince and the Magician tried various ways to get Zelda to talk, but she refused to divulge the location of the Triforce. Angered the Magician threatened to place Zelda into an eternal sleep if she didn't reveal the Triforce's location, but she still refused. Enraged the Magician started chanting the spell, shocked the Prince of Hyrule tried to stop the Magician, but the magician fended him off so he could cast the spell with no interference.
With the spell cast, Zelda dropped to sleep on the spot, but at the same time, the Magician mysteriously dropped dead. Stricken with remorse, the Prince placed his sister in a special altar in a hidden room in the castle. After sealing the room, the Prince then ordered every daughter in the royal household would be named Zelda in memory of the tragedy.
Other Media[]
Manga/Comics[]
Valiant Comics[]
In the Valiant comics adaptation of the series, an adaptation the events of The Adventure of Link are mentioned. In it is said the Magician was Ganon's disguise and he cast an eternal sleep on Princess Zelda of the present, with the ancient Princess Zelda being excised out of this version of the story for simplicity's sake. Later in the comic, it is revealed Ganon was once a normal Hylian and that eventually his greed of the Triforce of Power corrupted him into a monster. It is possible Ganon's hylian form was the Magician.
Ran Maru Manga[]
In the Maru Ran manga, the Magician is given a more developed history as the Prince's best friend and plays a major role throughout the whole story as the original incarnation of Ganon. Both he and the Prince had spent years searching for the Triforce of Courage with no results. One day the Magician found out Zelda knew the location of the Triforce of Courage and tried to get the Prince to help him interograte Zelda, when the Prince refused, the Magician took it upon herself and cursed Zelda in an eternal sleep when she told him nothing.
After cursing Zelda, he flees from the Prince and disappeared from history, his later life a mystery. It is later revealed to Link that the Magician actually lived to the present day and is leading the cult to resurrect Ganon, acting as the primary villain in his attempts to gain Link's blood to fully resurrect Ganon. Eventually during a fullscale town assault on the town of Darunia, the Magician's Daira lieutenant and his army kill what they think is Link but was actually the disguised Princess Zelda, the descendant of the sleeping Zelda.
The Magician uses Zelda II's blood to revive Ganon however due to the obtaining the wrong blood, the ritual goes wrong and Ganon pained and decaying; the Magician kills the Daira for his failure to obtain Link's blood.
When Link obtains the Triforce after defeating his own shadow and escaping Ganon, he uses it to awaken the sleeping Princess Zelda. Shortly after this event, a disguised Magician attacks Link, attempting to steal the Triforce pieces. Link cuts off the Magician's mask, revealing his face. The ancient Zelda recognizes the man as Ganon, her brother's Magician. Link is shocked and confusion, saying this Ganon is a human. The now older Ganon ages further becoming an elderly man as he rants he has been searching for the triforce for hundreds of years and will stop at nothing for it. The human Ganon starts decaying and suddenly the equally decayed monstrous Ganon bursts from his body. The monster Ganon grabs the triforce and flees, leaving the human Ganon bleeding on the floor.
The dying Magician explains that he couldn't control himself against the allure of the Triforce and eventually his greed took on a life of itself and became the monster Ganon, his avatar linked to himself and his life force. The Magician continues that his monster avatar no longer needs him to survive. The now almost skeletal human Ganon says this is all the fault of his greed and starts to apologize to the ancient Zelda, but finally drops dead before he can finish.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Hyrule Historia book says the Magician may have been a servant or avatar of Ganon but nothing is known for sure.
- In a piece of artwork, the Magician is merged with the Prince's shadow as he whips a friend of Zelda. Whilst nothing is known, its possible this was meant to imply the Magician was possessing or otherwise corrupting the Prince.
External Links[]
- Youtube video Part 1 of the Ran Maru manga narrated and translated.
- Youtube video Part 2 of the Ran Maru manga narrated and translated.
- Youtube video The final part of the Ran Maru manga narrated and translated.
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The Demon King's Army Palace Guardians Koholint Island Termina World of the Ocean King Hytopia Yiga Clan Tecuums Other Foes Hyrule Warriors Cadence of Hyrule Manga Ganon's Army (CD-I) |