FNF>G7: A Hero’s Song

What does it mean to be a hero? Sometimes it means deciding which sacrifice to make. What are you owed, and what do you owe the world? Tonight, a young warrior named Link must make that decision, for in order to protect the kingdom of Hyrule, he will risk not his life, but something deep within his heart.

Once a upon a time there was a land of four Trif0rces: Power, Wisdom, Courage, and Spacebooger!

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The Dancefloor: The Legend of Zelda #1 (Valiant, May 1990)

The Promoters: George Caragonne, Sir Rodney Ramos, Ken Lopez, P. Zorito and the Gradations (Again, Valiant’s “Nintendo Comic System” comics never told you who did what, and only had the credits on the side of the first page of that story. They also had two seperate stories per issue, with some comedy filler, and a two page set-up only during the first issue. However, if you’ve ever played the first two Zelda games, or saw the cartoon, you’re already up to speed.

When the Princess Zelda goes missing, Link heads out after her. She’s decided that the only way to protect the Triforce of Wisdom from the evil wizard Ganon is to take it far away where he can’t reach it.

What some people won't do to avoid those high gas prices and air fares

However, Ganon’s troops know that she’s out and vulnerable. If she has any hope of reaching the Fifth Palace, Link will have to help her get there.

How do you say no to that face?

Link begrudgingly agrees, but as anyone who played Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link knows, the trip isn’t an easy one.

Good thing Link subscribed to Nintendo Power.

Lo, but the monsters they face are many, and in a regular comic this would be a multi-part story. (And in today’s comics it would be an overpadded mini-series and the monsters would be hacked up in the goriest rather than disappearing when zapped.) However, this is a slightly-less-than-half-a-book story, so our heroes quickly reach their goal, to meet today’s Boss Character, Ironknuckle!

I hope Link used his hand and not his shield.

Link really can’t fault the guy too much. Ironknuckle’s just doing his job after all.

Oh, no you didn't!

Later, the man in blue would look back on that as a bad idea.

"I'm not your sweet baboo!"

It turns out that Ironknuckle was only there to test warriors seeking the magic flute. Link passed (and he didn’t even study) and was granted access to the hidden room that holds Zelda’s last hope to protect the Triforce of Wisdom.

That's why I pay him the big jewels.

But what’s this? After a whole page endless weeks of searching, hiding, and fighting, are our heroes having second thoughts? Is Link really ready to let the girl he loves leave his life? What if the flute had been missing? Yeah, all he has to do is smash it! Then she can’t leave, and they can have numerous games adventures together again. All he has to do is destroy it and tell her it wasn’t there. All he has to do…

She's a terrible flute player anyway.

All he has to do is choose: break Zelda’s heart when she can’t protect her land, or let her fullful her wish, and break his own. What would YOU do?

"That'll be $45.99 plus tax."

And so, Link fought the greatest fight, that of the heart. But did he win, or lose? I suppose that’s for antiquity to decide. And so with a heavy heart (and I don’t mean the Triforce of Courage), Link bid farewell to the one woman who means everything to him.

Farewell, fair princess. Whereever the whistle takes you, may you find the peace and happyness you soug…wait, she gave it back?

The joke kind of kills the mood.

Seriously, I exaggerated a bit for effect, but I never understood why the writers of this series made a point to show a stronger romantic connection between Link and Zelda (with no Sprite the Fairy to be a jealous rival…quite a bit of wrong there) than in the cartoon from The Super Mario Brothers Super Show (why I loved Fridays, besides no school the next day), but still went with the “Kiss me, Princess” joke. At any rate, she decided that she couldn’t leave either, and in that book that makes Link the winner. And I’m a sucker for a happy ending.

So why don’t you make someone happy today and vote for your favorite track in this week’s Friday Night Fight!