Nothing.
That was his first memory, wandering these green fields from dusk till dawn. No purpose, no direction. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did this place seem so vaguely familiar? He had no identity. Nothing more than a wandering shadow. No one else seemed to recognize him, or see him for that matter.
And he hated it.
There was an unquenchable rage inside of him, a burning need for miserable fate to befall others. They were the only emotions he knew. Why was it that he saw smiling faces all around him, yet could never feel their warmth? Filled with such a red hatred, such an immense loneliness, and so many questions left without an answer. It only worsened his rage. And so he came to hate the denizens of light, the citizens of the land known as Hyrule. They were his only outlet, and his descent into madness began. Soon, every hint of glee he encountered was just another brick in the wall. All smiles step closer to the edge of his breaking point. Just as he was beginning to reach his limits, before his very eyes his need for destruction was satiated.
Without a clear reason, he began to see pain and suffering befall the people within the kingdom of Hyrule. Fires ravaged the city, people fled from their homes in a mad scramble for safety. Alas, no haven was to be found. Scarce few escaped the wrath of this unknown force. He wondered who could have done this. Who possessed both the same wrath as himself, yet also the power to exact vengeance against those whom they despised? Within days of the pillaging, as he was watching another raid of monsters in Castle Town, he found him. The man responsible.
He was a tall man with red, fiery hair and dark, discolored skin. He sat atop a dark horse. The man spotted him staring, caught in wonderment, and approached him with a dignified air. "You are alone. You have nowhere to go and no purpose in your life." He spoke, his words being truer than he probably knew. "From here forth, I shall be your purpose. Serve me, and I will give you reason. You see, I understand you. Your pain, your irrational wrath and hatred, all of those negative emotions that you can't possibly hope to rid yourself of. Make them belong to me, and I can take away all of your suffering."
The one without purpose hadn't ever encountered someone who could visually see him, much less know him down to a tee. It felt as though he had finally found his function. He would serve this man. "My name is Ganondorf, and I am your king. What are you called, loyal servant?" He did not answer; he knew not how to answer. He was never given a name, nor any form of selfdom. Ganondorf only smiled. However it wasn't the same smile that he had seen previously on the faces of others. This particular shape of the mouth was cold, sinister, and dastard. He loved it. "You are the very embodiment of the shadow in someone's heart, child. You will be known as Dark from this day forth."
And so that is what became of him. He was a boy named Dark who had wandered the fields of a green kingdom, only to loathe its warmth and rejoice at its downfall. He would follow Ganondorf into the dark if it meant proving to him his worth. And thus his name preceded him. He aided in the spread of darkness throughout Hyrule. Soon, it was he whose hand cities crumbled at. He was to be known by all those who had once been oblivious to his very existence. It had once been that parents told their children not to be scared of the shadows lurking under their beds. Now, things had changed. It was known by everyone who had seen him: Be very afraid of the Dark.