A/N: I had no intention for this battle to coincide with the unfortunate news of Terraria: Otherworld's cancellation. I'm sad. Very sad. Oh, and, somehow, this ended up being stupidly long - probably because both combatants have such obscenely enormous arsenals and I tried the story method of battle again - not incredibly dissimilar to what I did with Light Yagami vs. Lelouch Vi Brittania, but with a fair bit of normal-style action in there, too. Anyway, if you like long fights…this one's 27,000 words long, with a battle that lasts for 9,000 words. You're welcome. Never expect this again.
Episode 9: Link (Legend of Zelda) vs. Terrarian (Terraria)
Heroism is a trait many of our combatants have possessed, but these two were made to be the very essence of the word. Oh, and they use their massive arsenals alongside their absurdly powerful swords to defeat thousands of monsters and even gods, all while going on many adventures. Link, the Hero of Hyrule, and Terrarian, the Savior of Terraria.
Every incarnation of these characters in comics, shows, and games will be taken into account for the purposes of this battle. Yes, it means I have to dive into Zelda's extensive comic history, but it also means I get to count random Terraria feats (like killing the Eater of Worlds with a copper shortsword) as canon, so I say it evens out. As always, original canon takes precedence. Also, because I don't yet own it and want NO SPOILERS, nothing from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been taken into account in the writing of this battle. Get over it. In addition, time is…weird in the world of Terraria. It gets confusing as to if something should be counted as happening every second or every minute. Because of this, I'm taking everything normal in real time (saying he can swing his swords three times a second and such) while passage of time that's directly measured is translated to in-game time. So a fight that takes four minutes would take four hours, and a buff potion that lasts ten minutes lasts ten hours. Oh, and one more thing: Link's item slots have always exactly matched the amount of items he gets in his adventures, suggesting there's no limit to the magic bag he keep his stuff in, so we're giving him everything. Well, everything that might matter. However, Terrarian only has so many slots in his arsenal, so that's what we'll be filling. To be fair, they both end up having around the same number of items slots filled, and while we could include other Terraria items by usage of, say, the Safe or Piggy Bank, pretty much everything we don't include is just lesser versions of things he already has, and would probably make no difference in who wins or who dies. Thanks for understanding.
I'm LittleZbot, and it's my hobby to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.
Link:
Thousands of years ago, three goddesses set upon a dark and formless land to shape it. Forming masses of land, forests, animals, and several races of life, the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore imprinted the land, creating the world of Hyrule. And when they went back to the heavens, they left several gifts and a representation of their powers - the Triforce. The Triforce was an incredibly powerful relic capable of theoretically anything by manipulating the Golden Force, a type of spiritual energy. Also left to protect it was the fourth goddess, Hylia. But where there is light, there is always dark, and it wasn't long before the demon Demise rose from the earth, followed by thousands of monsters, and set out to claim the Triforce for his own.
Demise was absurdly powerful - so much so that even with the goddess Hylia at their side, the Hylians (basically a mix of elves and humans) didn't stand a chance. But there was someone who might be able to. His name was Link. That Link…is not the Link we're talking about. But he does lead into the Link, or, well, Links, we all know. Look, this origin story is seriously overcomplicated, so let's just jump back into it. Anyway, after having been wrongfully imprisoned for four years, the people let this Link go because…they really just needed a badass to hold down the fort. And they got one. Wielding the Master Sword, a godly blade forged by Hylia's own hands, Link singlehandedly pushed the entire army of darkness back and held his own against Demise twice. His efforts eventually allowed Hylia to seal Demise away, at the expense of Link's life. In respect (and possibly love) of the green-clad hero, Hylia basically wrote it into reality that another hero bearing his name and abilities would arise once more when he was needed. Oh, and, in order to protect the Triforce, she also gave up her immortal form and reincarnated herself into a mortal girl named Zelda who was bound to the same fate she'd given Link. Because everyone knows that a seventeen-year-old girl can protect a relic of unlimited power way better than a deity can.
Regardless, centuries later, Demise's monsters had managed to loosen the seal of imprisonment on the demon. His efforts to escape tore apart the land and caused all kinds of trouble - but, luckily, the new Link and new Zelda appeared, learned of their fates, and set out to stop him. After plenty of grueling effort and adventures, the new Link faced Demise in a one-on-one confrontation. The two dueled, and, eventually, Link prevailed, slaying the demon once and for all. Or not. Apparently, Demise can do that whole "reincarnate" thing, too. He cursed the spirit of the hero (Link) and the spirit of the goddess (Zelda) to be endlessly reincarnated, always appearing every few generations, and he himself would be reincarnated centuries later as the gerudo Ganondorf, an immortal creature who could transform into the monstrous Ganon, who would plague every incarnation of Link and Zelda until the end of time. Or until one side won; whichever came first.
But Demise really should have thought things through a little better before giving himself a reincarnating nemesis that was literally created by the gods to be the epitome of heroism.
There have been many, many different Links over the centuries, but they all share the same soul - the spirit of the hero, transferred through use of the Triforce. This means that, after realizing their full potential, every new incarnation of Link gains the experience and knowledge of every previous incarnation, as well as having the same personality, skill set, mindset, and, well, everything. Because of this, just taking one Link into account doesn't really make sense - so we'll be doing what pretty much everyone else does and combine every form into one combatant - including weapons. This is pretty much officially documented anyway, thanks to the Triforce of Courage.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I? Well, the Triforce was eventually split into three pieces, each belonging to suitable host and granting different abilities. The Triforce of Power went to Ganondorf, the Triforce of Wisdom went to Zelda, and the Triforce of Courage went to Link. However, unlike the other two pieces, the Triforce of Courage no longer has a physical form, instead being imbued into Link's very soul.
"There are three Triforces, all pieces of the one original Triforce," Zelda explains to Prince Charles. "The Triforce of Power is in the clutches of the evil wizard Ganon. And they say that the Triforce of Courage is buried deep in Link's heart."
Being one with the Triforce of Courage has plenty of perks. In addition to Link's superhuman capabilities (which, trust me, we'll get into later), the Triforce gives Link superhuman awareness, quick discernment between good and evil, a pool of magic, and protection against dark magic and even other Triforce pieces. All versions of Link also have a special ability called "Z-Targeting," which makes Link instantly aware of where his foe is and completely concentrated on reacting to it. This, plus many other things, makes him an extremely deadly fighter. And, no, it isn't something he can do only via fairies. There have been plenty of games and even comics where he's fully able to use this feature without any outside help. And, of course, it also gave him unrelenting courage and a yearning to do what's right, which usually comes down to saving the world and killing the bad guys.
And with Link's arsenal, destroying monsters is the easiest part of the job. Over the generations, Link's picked up many…many…many different weapons and items to use. Let's start with the basics - his sword. Or, well, swords. Every version of Link has been a master swordsman, easily capable of besting some of the best on the planet, and as such, swords are what he almost always carries into a fight. His most commonly used sword is the Master Sword, the same blade that was used to defeat Demise three times. Originally crafted by Hylia to be wielded by the gods, this unbreakable three-foot piece of metal can kill pretty much any opponent with just one slice, and is so powerful, Link's stated that merely holding the blade is like holding a bolt of lightning. This sword is sharp enough to effortlessly cut through most metals, including iron and steel, and behead the dragon Volvagia with a single chop. In the process, the sword cut through the dragon's scales, which were harder than diamond, like a hot knife through butter. But besides being great for slicing, it comes with a host of other powers. It reflects evil and magical attacks, harms beings outside the physical realm, and, when Link's at full health, it can launch a sword beam capable of reaching fifty feet away that's powerful enough to annihilate a building-sized dam or incinerate forty armed guards and their horses! Also, it can charge up energy from above and perform a Skyward Strike, an energy beam that cuts through giant mechs or even buildings. Or the blade can just charge up and allow Link to perform the secret technique titled the Kaitengiri, or Spin Attack, a technique so powerful, it's forbidden for anyone to use. People tend to turn a blind eye whenever Link does it, though, for obvious reasons. This technique one-shotted a giant worm covered in supposedly impenetrable armor and pierced the unpierceable armor of the dragon warrior Onyx. Also, he's since upgraded the attack, allowing him to perform it for up to ten seconds, though it dizzies him slightly afterward. As a bonus to all of this, the Master Sword can manipulate electricity and absorb kinetic energy. But there's still more to this legendary blade, as it also houses three medallions: the Bombos Medallion, which causes everything in the surrounding area to explode, the Ether Medallion, which covers all enemies in a blast of cold that turns them to ice and reveals invisible things, and the Quake Medallion, which creates huge earthquakes. However, using these medallions does take some of Link's limited supply of magic.
You think that with all that power, there'd be no way to top that sword, right? Wrong. Let's put it like this: if you thought Death Battle gave Link all his best weapons and gear in Link vs. Cloud, prepare to have your mind blown. Link has a variety of other swords that he can switch to if he so wishes, starting with the Great Fairy Sword, a magical two-handed blade that doesn't have any special powers, but is twice as strong as the Master Sword. Yup. Twice as strong as the sword that slices through dragon scales. Better yet is the Biggoron's Sword, which is pretty much the same thing, but, after plenty of training, Link's learned to use this seven-foot blade with only one hand. But if you're going after a real contender, our next stop is the Phantom Sword, which is about as strong as the Master Sword and can do anything it can do except use medallions. But it more than makes up for it with its unique ability: freezing time! With the assistance of Ciela, a fairy that's basically a physical representation of the Triforce of Courage, Link was able to use this blade to freeze time for nineteen seconds every thirty seconds or so, using the time to move out of the way of attacks, go behind his opponent, and completely obliterate him. If you're saying "Well, that sounds stupidly overpowered," that's because it is. However, while it's implied he can use this ability even without Ciela's help, the ability likely suffers as a result. It's unlikely he can use it anywhere nearly as often as he previously had.
But all of these blades pale in comparison to the Master Sword's ultimate form. See, after realizing there were so many better swords out there than the Master Sword (which just seems inexcusable when it's a sword literally made to be the most powerful thing ever), and having obtained total control and dominion over the blade after dueling the sword's internal fighting spirit to standstill (I'm not kidding), one incarnation of Link decided to reforge the sword better than it had ever been. After being rendered by dwarves and bathed in a magical pool of fairy tears, it was reborn as the Golden Sword. Longer, faster, and shinier, the Golden Sword can do everything the Master Sword can do, and do it way better. Its sword beams stretch over twice as long and are far more powerful, it's capable of harming Ganon after he absorbed the full essence of the Triforce, and it's four times stronger and deadlier than the Master Sword. Eat that, Hylia.
"Hmm," Karuna hums. " You're prepared with a sword this time. Where did you pick up that blunt sword?" He pulls out his own seven-foot blade, far bigger than Link's piece of steel. "I can teach you a little about what a real sword is."
Link crosses his sword over his face. "Why don't you test it?"
The two brace and run towards each other. They clash blades - and Link's sword cuts straight through Karuna's sword, armor, and body with one fatal strike.
You may not believe this, but even that isn't Link's most powerful sword. Behold the Four Sword, a legendary blade forged out of spiritual matter by human and minish hands. Long ago, a great evil rose up (take three guesses as to what that evil was) and a hero clothed in green appeared to stop it. To assist with this, fairy-like creatures from another dimension, the minish, worked together to forge the best sword ever made - the Picori Blade. The hero used this sword on his adventures and, with it as a seal, sealed away the evil forever. Or so he thought. Over a hundred years later, the sorcerer Vaati broke the now-rusted and worn-out Picori Blade with a burst of dark magic, and, to defeat him, an incarnation of Link set out to reforge it. And reforge it he did. After being imbued with the elements of nature and bathed in the Light Force, a similar energy to the Golden Force, it became the Four Sword, which was an improvement on the Picori Blade in every way. It can do pretty much everything the Golden Sword can, from easily slicing through dragon scales to manipulating the elements to throwing powerful sword beams. Oh, and it's also four times more powerful than the Master Sword. But what pushes it beyond the Golden Sword is one very important ability: while using the Four Sword, Link can separate into four copies of himself, complete with all his weapons, knowledge, skill, and physical capabilities, and each one having a completely separate mind and being fully capable of functioning on its own. In fact, it appears to be one of Link's preferred training methods to use the Four Sword in order to separate, then practice against himself before rejoining the souls into one, essentially quadrupling the experience and skill he gains in the time allotted. The only downside? Well, the sword's power decreases when he splits, so when there are four of him parading around, each one's carrying a blade at about the same strength level as the original Master Sword. Also, while it's certainly tough, unlike the previously mentioned swords, the Four Sword is not unbreakable. Eventually, it will wear down and can even be snapped if put under too much pressure, forcing Link to reforge it once more.
But even if he's put in that position mid-fight, Link's got a ridiculous amount of other weapons and items he can use instead. But before that, let's talk about his shield, since Link almost always fights with a sword in his left hand and a shield in his right. Link's had plenty of shields over the years, including the fire-resistant Red Shield and the regenerating Goddess Shield, but his most famous is the unbreakable Hylian Shield, passed down from one incarnation of Link to the next for thousands of years. But he really has no need of it when he's got the Mirror Shield, which is also unbreakable, far lighter, and can reflect and rebound magic and light-based attacks. Plus, it distributes the force on his arm evenly, unlike most other shields, acting as a sort of vibration compressor, so no matter how powerful the strike blocked, Link feels no pain. But with all his other items, the same can't be said for his enemies.
When a sword and shield doesn't get the job done, his go-to sidearm is one of his Bows. He's had a lot over the years, but the two most important are the Sacred Bow and the Nice Bow. With the Sacred Bow, he can shoot four bullseyes from over 100 yards away in under a second - even while being secretly cursed by Ganon to be unable to make his shot, he's somehow still able to get his arrow within a micro-inch of a bullseye. The Nice Bow has shorter range, but can magically transform one arrow into three, one flying straight and the others at left and right angles. And, of course, he has a suitable number of trick arrows. Fire Arrows set foes and torches aflame, Ice Arrows freeze foes solid and create ice platforms over water, Bomb Arrows explode upon impact with enough force to blow up a giant drawbridge, Light Arrows travel at the speed of light but only harm evil, and Silver Arrows pretty much one-shot everything, including a monster who was literally a giant steel ball. To top it all off, he has a single Red Darknut Arrow, which, after being fired, will chase him around until it hits something or someone. But it can kill Link in one shot, so it's pretty dangerous to use. When you factor in the fact that even his normal ammunition, Blue Arrows, can pierce steel, and he has just under a hundred of each of these arrows, you can see why the Bow is one of his favorite sidearms.
But it's far from his only one. The Hyper Slingshot can also reach distances of nearly 100 yards AND magically triples the shots it fires. Normally, it shoots Deku Seeds, which are pretty much oversized walnuts, but Link has five other magical seeds to use as ammo that are far more viable in combat. Ember Seeds set foes and torches aflame, Scent Seeds overpower the senses and draw monsters toward wherever they land, Gale Seeds create a vacuum effect and tiny tornadoes in their wake, Pegasus Seeds stun even heavily armored enemies and can be used without the slingshot to temporarily double Link's speed, and Mystery Seeds do…um, a lot of things. Bring inanimate objects to life, reveal hidden passages, transform jelly monsters into humans, put people to sleep…who knows what all it can do? And he has just under a hundred of each seeds, ensuring he always has ammo. Beyond this, he has a bunch of Bombs that he can throw around. A normal Bomb set on a lit fuse is capable of opening huge gaps in mountains stretching nearly 30 feet in length. Remote Bombs can do the same, but are set off remotely by Link, though he can only place one at a time. Bombchus are a little less powerful, but can move around, fit in small gaps, and are controlled like robots by Link. Finally, Nice Bombs and Super Bombs are capable of creating massive explosions that obliterate enormous rocks over fifty feet high. Oh, yeah, and he ALSO has almost a hundred of each of these.
But while Link's known for his skills with pretty much every traditional weapon, it's his more unique ones that stir interest. His two boomerangs, the Magical Boomerang and the Gale Boomerang, can each fly over 100 feet away and hit nearly a dozen different targets across a huge area before returning to Link's hand. The main difference between the two is this: the Magical Boomerang typically instantly kills everything it touches, while the Gale Boomerang whips up entire tornadoes in its wake. His Hookshot may be iconic, but its top upgrade, the Double Clawshot, is even better. With this, Link has a Clawshot equipped on each of his arms. What's a Clawshot? Well, it's a powerful grappling hook-type machine that not only damages enemies, but can dig into or grasp just about anything and either carry it to Link or carry Link to it at absurd speeds. Link can even stop pretty much wherever he wants mid-way in order to shoot his other Clawshot to grab something else, flying around the place like a green-hatted Spiderman.
The Gnat Hat can turn Link the size of a gnat and back again, the Cane of Pacci shoots out a magical beam the turns things upside down (and holes into trampolines), and the Skull Hammer is powerful enough to smash through the crown of the Helmaroc King, which is stronger than steel. The Sand Wand gives Link minor control over sand, the Bug Net catches bugs and…magic, the Beetle is a remotely piloted drone that can scope out areas and trigger traps, The Mole Mitts let Link tunnel through dirt like it's thin air, and the Mogma Mitts do the same for solid rock. A Blue Ring gifted by an undercover Ganon contains a hidden compartment with sleeping gas, the Stop Watch takes some time to set up but will stop time for everyone but Link for several minutes, and the Long Hook reaches over a hundred feet away, grabs enemies, pots, or, well, whatever, and magically switches it and Link's places, leaving the pot where he was and him where the pot was. The Gust Jar can suck up foes and spit them out with enough force to smash through a wall. How powerful is this suction? Well, when it was shrunk down, it pulled down a Chuchu, who, because of Link's current size, seemed to be the size of a small building. Scaling to real size, assuming the Chuchu had a density similar to Jell-O, this behemoth would weigh 44,131 pounds, or 22 tons. However, the suction can be protected against with magic. But even more powerful are the Magnetic Gloves. These magical gloves allow Link to attract and repel huge amounts of metal, literally tossing giant iron balls that would weigh over 100 tons across the room in two seconds. And it doesn't just affect magnetic metals - somehow, even the likes of aluminum and other non-magnetic metals fall prey to its manipulation. But Link's most well-known of these kinds of items is, without doubt, the Ocarina of Time. By playing this magical Ocarina, Link can control the weather, change the time of day, heal injured souls, create statues, and make inanimate objects come to life. And, in some situations, he can even go back in time! However, he loses any and all weapons except his basic ones by doing this, and can only go back three days, no more, no less, making it pretty much useless during battle.
Link stops in the middle of an enormous open field, and plays a tune on his Ocarina. Seconds later, a horse comes running up from the distance. Link turns to the horse and pets it on the nose, smiling.
"Yeah, you remember that song, don't you, Epona?"
Let's not forget about Link's magical weapons, shall we? Starting off with the Fire Rod. This magical rod is a powerful tool that can transform into a variety of different weapons that use fire and explosive energy in a series of deadly attacks. It can also manipulate magic itself into physical attacks that can blow foes back or cut them into sushi. It can create raging infernos around an enemy, summon fire dragons, and use the power of the Triforce of Courage in one ultimate attack to throw a giant fireball of ultimate death. It can also turn into multiple forms, like a flamethrower or an energy battleaxe. There's also the Ice Rod, which is stated to be the Fire Rod's equal, but with ice and frost instead of, you know, fire and death. The Cane of Byrna surrounds Link in a magical barrier that destroys everything that passes through it and the Magic Cape turns Link invisible and intangible, able to pass through any attacks or walls. Except dirt. For some reason. The Cane of Somaria creates giant blocks made out of pure magic that can only be moved by Link, Magic Powder can do pretty much everything Mystery Seeds can and more, and the Lens of Truth lets him see the world from a spiritual perspective. However, while these items are exceptionally powerful, they do require some amount of Link's limited magic pool to use. So it's a good thing Link also has five bottles filled with Blue Potion. Each bottle contains two servings, and each serving fully restores Link's health and magic.
As if he needed anything else, Link has a variety of Rings and Masks that alter his abilities significantly. He can only have one of each equipped at a time, but can switch between them in an instant, so it's not a major downside. The Whisp Ring prevents magical curses, burning, freezing, being turned to stone, basically status effects in general, the Green Holy Ring prevents any and all electrical damage, the Spin Ring doubles the length of Link's Spin Attack, the Heart Ring Lvl. 2 gives him a healing factor, and, best of all, the Red Ring doubles Link's strength and striking power. When it comes to masks, the Mask of Scents increases Link's senses to superhuman levels, the Mask of Truth lets him talk to animals and the undead, the Blast Mask acts like an infinitely exploding Bomb, the Bunny Hood doubles his speed, the Stone Mask makes him invisible to his foes unless he attacks, and the Giant's Mask only works in extreme cases, but increases his size to that of a mountain. But far beyond these are the Transformation Masks, masks that alter Link's physical form and transform him into something else. Deku Link can run on water, manipulate plant life, and spit sticky sap. Goron Link can lift extremely heavy objects, survive in all manners of heat and fire (including lava), and curl up into a ball to race around like Sonic. Zora Link uses two electric boomerang-like blades as weapons and can swim and breathe underwater like nobody's business. But Link's most powerful transformation is yet to come. Born of a fallen god from long ago, the Fierce Deity's Mask grants power absolute. Fierce Deity Link is leagues stronger and tougher than normal Link, and wields the double-helix sword, a blade so insanely powerful, it two-shotted the demon Majora, who can move a small moon. More notably, it did this:
Fierce Deity Link looks up at a meteor-sized moon with a demonic grin that's about to crash right into him. Calmly and quickly, Fierce Deity Link pulls out his blade, reaches up, extends the sword to an insane length, and slices down through the moon, carving it in half.
No, you aren't seeing things. That guy just split a moon in half! Let's do some math: Fierce Deity Link is about the same size as Ocarina of Time's Adult Link, who was 170 centimeters tall. By measuring the moon in comparison to this height and assuming an average moon-rock density throughout, the moon would be about 314.43 cubic meters big and weigh 2,266,762 pounds. Scaling to our moon, the force required to cut it in half would be over one trillion joules.
But Link's never needed the face of a god to be physically impressive. He's strong enough to knock a small tree down with one punch, fast enough to dodge sound-based attacks, and tough enough to be flung straight through the trunk of an oak tree and get right back up. While it only takes about 20,000 pounds of force to knock a tree down, to completely smash through its trunk with a single blow would take around 70,000 pounds of force! And he's right back up and fighting! But if he does need a boost, he's got that covered, too, because Link has boatloads of armors and accessories to wear just to make himself even tougher. The Lvl. 2 Power Bracelet makes him strong enough to lift giant statues, but doesn't increase striking power. The Golden Gauntlets are even better, letting him lift and throw a giant granite pillar that would weigh over 466,000 pounds, though they also don't increase striking power. Hence why they're eclipsed by the equally-strong Iron Gauntlets, which do increase striking power, and can create and harness electricity to boot. He's worn many, many different outfits and armors, but his best tends to be the Red Mail, a change of clothes that lets him survive in great heat and magically quadruples his durability. With the Zora Flippers, he can breathe underwater and swim across tough currents with ease. Roc's Cape triples his jumping distance, lets him hover in mid-air, and increases his agility. The Water-Walking Boots let him walk across entire oceans without fear of sinking, but even better are the Pegasus Boots, which quadruples his speed, though he can have some amount of trouble using his non-sword weapons at these speeds. Add to that a magical Magnifying Lens that lets him understand all languages and see invisible things, and you have a very dangerous superhuman package. And unlike his normal weapons, he doesn't have to go searching inside a magical bag of infinite space for these - they can all be equipped at the same time (except the Water-Walking Boots and Pegasus Boots, obviously. It's one at a time for them).
Believe it or not, even without any of what we've already mentioned, Link still wouldn't be lost. Remember how I said the Triforce of Courage gives him magic? Well, I didn't just mean for his weapons. Yup, Link's a magician. Among his spells are Din's Fire, which can create explosions and fireballs, the Jump Spell, which doubles his jumping height, and the Life Spell, which sacrifices one-third of his current magic to replenish half his health. The Shield Spell doubles his durability for a surprisingly long time, Naryu's Love creates a force field against projectiles and heals him over time, and the Fairy Spell transforms him into…a fairy. A fairy that can fit through keyholes and has infinite flight. He can rapid-fire teleport with Farore's Wind and reflect other magic spells and weapons with the Reflect Spell. Finally, there's his most powerful spell, the Thunder Spell, which covers an enormous area, brings down magic barriers, and can incinerate over a hundred monsters at once - but it does use quite a bit of magic, far more than any of his other spells.
With how much power Link has, can you imagine what he'd be like if he didn't get the weakest third of the Triforce?
You aren't going to believe this.
After Ganon was defeated a few too many times for its liking and it got a taste of what Link had to offer, the Triforce of Power abandoned Ganon and chose Link as its bearer. Now the wielder of two/thirds of the Triforce, Link's power grew immensely. He was strong enough to effortlessly shatter steel and was so powerful, when he took his first steps, Zelda thought he was using the Thunder Spell. Just from walking! Having access to all the Triforce of Power's abilities, Link was basically impervious to damage and had unlimited magical power. He could've actually cast the Thunder Spell, which takes most of his magic, a thousand times with no drawbacks whatsoever. And his power over magic extended well past his own. When Ganon, who, remember, was the most powerful magic user on the planet, tried to kill him with the Death Curse, Link CAUGHT IT and transformed it into a caging curse, which he then used to trap Ganon. However, there was one major downside. Using the Triforce of Power made him…totally power-hungry and evil. And gain tusks. And, when he began misusing the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Courage abandoned him. Upon realizing this, Link gave up the Triforce of Power, and it went back to Ganon. But, if he's desperate enough, he could always just call it back and once more gain all that power.
But even without that power, Link's accomplished some crazy things and defeated foes that should be way out of his league. This is, admittedly, likely due to his incredible strategic prowess and fighting style. Link is an expert at figuring out his opponent's patterns and exploiting them. Even if there's only one possible way to defeat his foe, he will find it and use it. It does take some amount of time, but this hasn't failed to defeat his enemies the vast majority of the time. To be fair, that in itself is probably because of his insane detective skills.
Link stabs behind him, impaling the darkness. The Nightmare cries out in pain.
"Heh," Link breathes out. "So, what do you have to say? All I had to do was watch and figure out your style, and then I attacked your weak spot."
He was once surprised by a moblin general with a magic spear, and figured out less than ten seconds later that the moblin was nearsighted. He then exploited this by making a dummy of himself out of sticks and weeds with a bomb as the head, and somehow timed the bomb's fuse to exactly go off when he predicted the moblin would pick it up. He deduced the location of the mystical Whistle in less than a day when the rest of the world couldn't do it in years, and, once, when Ganon teleported away from a fight, Link not only figured out that he'd gone to Death Mountain, but also the exact room he was in, just based off the direction Ganon was heading in when he teleported! Screw Batman, this guy's the real world's best detective.
And his physical accomplishments are just as incredible. We're talking about a guy who, without any strength boosters, easily wields a giant iron ball and chain over half as big as he is and defeats Gorons that can lift over ten tons in a wrestling match. He once kept up with a galloping horse (which can move at speeds of 44 MPH) for several miles, and has been stated to run at over 30 MPH on multiple occasions. Even that's nothing to all the hundreds of times he's dodged magical lightning or dozens of lasers at once. He's effortlessly shoved a skeleton knight through a wall of solid concrete, shattered a giant palace door, and kicked a moblin so hard, it exploded. No joke. He easily survives falls from hundreds of feet, like, every day, and even took an explosion that sent him flying hundreds of miles away into a stone wall. He's equaled and even surpassed the strength of foes who can easily tear down metal doors, and you know how one of Link's bombs can break into the side of a mountain? Yeah, well, he can take a total of twenty of those same explosions without any armor. That kind of durability is just stupid. But not as stupid as some of the other things he's done.
Link emerges from another dungeon, battered but happy. He waves a conch shell at his fairy companion. "Yo! I'm back, Felicia!" He hands her the instrument and moves over to pet Bow-Wow. "Now, then, shall we take Bow-Wow home?"
Felicia looks at him quizzically. "Link, did you have fun?"
Link puts his newly-acquired Bombs in his magic bag. "Yeah, I had tons of fun! Why do you care?"
"I mean," Felicia elaborated, "while you were fighting the enemies, weren't you afraid of dying with each step you took?"
Link grins. "Die? Who?"
Link's defeated entire armies by himself. In a single fight, he fought and killed forty Vires, twenty Wall Masters, nine Wizzrobes, and fifty Lanmolas. Just killing a single one of any of these monsters would be impressive for a knight of Hyrule, and Link took them all on at once after wandering the desert for days! He one-shotted a dragon a hundred times his size, defeated Hyrule's greatest swordsman with nothing but a wooden practice sword - when he was eight years old, bested the strongest man in the world, and held off over two hundred monsters for three days. He's bested Ganondorf in combat over a dozen times, and outright killed him three times. And remember the demon Majora, who was powerful enough to move a small moon with little effort? Well, even without his Fierce Deity form, Link still killed him. Her. It. Whatever it was. Link's shoved a five-ton boulder out of the way without any form of strain, survived a mountain exploding on top of him, and, when a cyclops twice his size threw a lit grenade at him at superhuman speeds, Link caught the grenade mid-air and threw it back twice as fast - right down the cyclops' throat. This kid's defeated hundreds of absurdly powerful monsters, most of which were considered impossible to defeat. He's even beaten his more powerful evil self, Dark Link, several times! Oh, and you know Soulcaliber's Nightmare, right? The superhuman demonic warrior who absorbs souls, controls some aspects of reality, and effortlessly destroys entire armies? Well, unfortunately for him, he was dimension-hopping one day, and decided to invade Hyrule. Link…beat him. After Nightmare barely escaped with his life, Link gave chase to the Soulcaliber dimension, and eventually defeated Nightmare again. When an uber-powerful soul-devouring demon is afraid of you, you know you're pretty strong. But Link's not just powerful; he's got determination to match. One time, he was stranded on an island, and decided his best bet to get home was to build a raft and sail away. So he spent all day building a giant sailing raft, intending to set sail the next morning. But a village was attacked in the middle of the night, so Link went out to save them. He met with and battled against an army of monsters all night long. When he was done, you think he'd save the trip for another time, right? Nope. Without any food, water, or rest, after fighting for his life all night long, Link finished the raft, set sail, and sailed a circle around the entire planet, ending up exactly where he started. And he paddled most of the way because he was faster than the wind! How is this guy real? But even that pales in comparison to the time he fought and defeated True Vaati, who was a far superior version of a far superior version of a far superior version of a far superior version of a magician who was already powerful enough to obliterate an entire acre of forest with nothing but a whisper. Well, with the amount of times Link's killed the essence of all evil, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
But while Link may be the essence of heroism, that doesn't make him faultless. While his deduction and strategic prowess is incredible, he's…lacking when it comes to common sense or communication skills. He's sort of immature, and will often go out of his way to settle a small score - like the time he made a bet with his childhood friend Rasuka about who could kill more monsters in one dungeon - a bet that nearly got the both of them killed. And while his strategy never fails to find a pattern, it does sometimes fail in finding one in time for Link to use it. Figuring out his opponent's moves and attack tendencies takes time, so if his foe can get his hits in quickly enough, Link doesn't get the chance, leaving him at a major disadvantage. He also tends to charge in recklessly, ignoring his surroundings and losing track of all information except about his opponent. Once, when he met a giant evil pig man, he charged in while the two were still talking, hoping that he was quick enough to destroy his enemy before he could react. And he was. He reached his foe and took a mighty swing - having completely forgotten that his sword had broken earlier due to stress and was now simply a hilt without a blade. Needless to say, he lost that bout. Also, he falls into traps way too frequently. He must consciously activate his Z-Targeting ability, so it's pretty common for a monster to hide out and get the jump on him. Plus, he's not invincible; in one timeline, Ganon even killed him and achieved ultimate power, but another Link rose up to stop him many years later.
And that's the truth of Link. He learns from any mistakes he commits and comes back better than ever. With a big arsenal and a bigger spirit, there are few who would dare try to put their blade to the test against the Hero of Hyrule.
As Stalfos run amok through Hyrule Castle Town, soldiers fall everywhere. One of the knights stands against the Stalfos King's blade, pushing with all his might. "Think I'll let any of you monsters do as you please?!"
The Stalfos King shoves him off and, with a slice, cuts his way through the soldier's armor. He raises a finishing blow and declares "Now, then. Hurry and go to hell." He launches his jagged sword downward to cleave the soldier in two.
Only for the blow to be intercepted by the blade of a young man garbed in green.
Link turns his sword, showcasing the mark of the Triforce, stares his foe dead in the eye, and declares "The only ones going to hell…are you." He slides out from under the blade and, with a single slash, disintegrates two Stalfos.
The Stalfos King backs up. "That sword is…the Master Sword! Then…you're the Hero of Time?!"
Link snorts. "You again, huh?"
"'Again'? Who are you?!" the monarch's eyes widen in shock as he remembers. "It can't be! From seven years ago…that little brat who opposed me?"
Link nods regally. "Right. Back then, I couldn't get any hits in. But now…I'm not a powerless kid anymore."
The Stalfos King swings his sword with full strength. "You impudent little-"
Link sidesteps out of the way and slices his undead foe in half with a single swipe.
Link:
Name: Link (last name varies)
Species: Hylian
Age: Typically 17
Height: Typically 5'7" / 170 cm.
Weight: 155 lb / 70 kilograms
Occupation: Royal Knight
Ate 17 plates of food in one sitting
Has never actually kissed Zelda…ever
Honorary member of eight different races
Triforce of Courage:
Superhuman Awareness
Morality Discernment
Magic Pool
Magical Protection
Unrelenting courage
Triforce of Power:
Impervious to Damage
Unlimited Magical Control
Even Further Physical Abilities
Immortality
Evilness
Weapons/Armor/Items:
Biggoron's Sword
Great Fairy's Sword
Phantom Sword
Master Sword/Golden Sword
Four Sword
Sacred Bow
Nice Bow
Crossbow
Blue Arrows
Fire Arrows
Ice Arrows
Silver Arrows
Bomb Arrows
Light Arrows
Red Darknut Arrow
Braced Shield
Fortified Shield
Goddess Shield
Hylian Shield
Mirror Shield
Normal Bombs
Remote Bombs
Bombchu
Nice Bomb
Hyper Slingshot
Deku Nuts
Ember Seeds
Pegasus Seeds
Gale Seeds
Mystery Seeds
Scent Seeds
Power Bracelet Lvl 2
Golden Gauntlets
Iron Gauntlets
Mole Mitts
Mogma Mitts
Fireshield Earrings
Hero's Charm
Blue Tunic
Red Tunic
Magic Armor
Pegasus Boots
Water-Walking Boots
Roc's Cape
Zora Flippers
Deku Leaf
Magnetism Gloves
Long Hook
Double Clawshots
Gust Jar
Cane of Pacci
Magic Boomerang
Gale Boomerang
Ball & Chain
Bug Net
Beetle
Skull Hammer
5 Bottles Filled with Blue Potion
Gnat Hat
Ocarina of Time
~Song of Storms
~Song of Healing
~Sun's Song
~Zelda's Lullaby
~So many others
Sand Wand
Stop Watch
Blue Ring
Fire Rod
Ice Rod
Magic Powder
Cane of Byrna
Cane of Somaria
Magic Cape
Lens of Truth
Red Ring
Heart Ring L-2
Green Holy Ring
Whisp Ring
Spin Ring
Blast Mask
Stone Mask
Bunny Hood
Giant's Mask
Mask of Scents
Mask of Truth
Deku Mask
Goron Mask
Zora Mask
Fierce Deity's Mask
So many others. It would take days. DAYS
Spells:
Fairy Spell
Din's Fire
Reflect Spell
Shield Spell
Thunder Spell
Jump Spell
Nayru's Love
Farore's Wind
Life Spell
Spell Spell
Physical Abilities:
Superhuman…oh, EVERYTHING
Z-Targeting
Feats:
Jumped over twenty feet into the air
In a single battle, defeated 40 Vires, 20 Wall Master, 9 Wizzrobes, 50 Lanmolas at once.
Killed King Stalfos with a single swipe from the Master Sword.
Beheaded Volvagia with one chop from the Master Sword.
One-shotted a dragon over a hundred times his size
Defeated Soulcaliber's Nightmare - twice
Held back an entire army on multiple occasions
Defeated Vaati's true form, which was an upgrade of an upgrade of an upgrade of an upgrade of a guy who was already powerful enough the shatter the Picori blade with one blast and destroy an acre of forest with just a whisper
Dueled Fi to a draw before gaining the power of the Triforce while using only a normal sword
Bested the strongest man in Hyrule in strength
Wrestles Gorons, who can tote over 10 tons
Ate no less than nineteen plates of food in one sitting
Fought an army of powerful monsters all night long…slayed ALL of them.
Sailed in a circle around the world without resting AFTER staying up all night fighting powerful monsters.
Knocked down a small tree with a punch
Matched strength against creatures that can tear down metal doors
Effortlessly lifted a moblin twice his size
Kicked a building-sized moblin so hard, it exploded
Shoved a five-ton boulder out of the way
Easily shattered a wooden door in the grand palace
Smashed a skeleton twice his size through a brick wall.
Able to keep up with a galloping
Easily dodges multiple arrows and spears and magic attacks
Ogre threw a grenade at him; Link caught it mid-air and threw it back into the ogre's mouth
Dodged lightning attacks and Beamos lasers several times
Speed shocked Agahnim, who can dodge lightning
Able to take 20 explosions that can break into the side of a mountain w/o armor
Was hit through a tree's trunk and got back up right away
Was shot out of a cannon into a stone wall from hundreds of feet away – was fine
Hit with an explosion that sent him into a stone wall miles away – was fine
Easily survives falls of hundreds of feet
Survived being in the center of a mountain-leveling explosion
Discovered the Whistle in one day
So much other stuff. No joke, he almost has as many feats as Superman
Weaknesses:
Not undefeatable
If caught by surprise, can be overwhelmed quickly
Tends to charge in recklessly
Not the best memory
…
Terrarian:
Years ago, the land of Terraria was a peaceful place. But then the legendary Cthulhu died on its soil, and his darkness spread out and took the form of hundreds of thousands of monsters. To combat this darkness and protect the land they'd created, the gods created a being made to be the ultimate hero in every regard. And they called him…Terrarian.
Yup.
That's it.
After Link's stupidly overcomplicated origin story, I bet you weren't expecting that, huh? Well, regardless, Terrarian quickly learned how to tame the land he'd been born into. He could dig, build, and fight like nobody else. And he did those very things for over a year, along the way killing monsters and mining for all kinds of trinkets and materials to upgrade his weapons and searching for treasure - which he seems to be obsessed with in a rather un-heroic kind of way.
Hearing an explosion underground where his friends had gone, Terrarian jumps up in worry. "The treasure!"
He pauses and then amends the statement. "I mean…my team. Yeeeaah."
Thanks to his natural talents, ever-increasing arsenal, and superhuman abilities (including infinite stamina and a healing factor that brings him from near-death to fully restored in just a few hours), he became nigh-unstoppable. It didn't matter who or what you were - an ancient god, a skeletal guardian, or two full armies from the frozen north - all of them tried to defeat him, and they all died. And he took their stuff.
Seeing a skeleton holding a key and a bag down in the depths of a cave, Terrarian grins. "Woah-oh! Free stuff!" He grabs the items from the skeleton and acknowledges him. "Heh, sorry buddy. Doesn't look like you'll need these now."
With his tendency to loot the corpses of his enemies and natural ability to make new weapons, Terrarian became pretty good at using pretty much anything. By the end of his journey, he'd wielded well over four hundred different weapons! However, he can only carry so many weapons and items at once (not counting armor and accessories), so we're only giving him the best he has.
His favorite and most common weapons are his swords. He's not fiction's best swordsman, but he's still seriously good, and loves to take a heroic blade into battle. He's used dozens of these, but we're just going with his top three, the first being the Influx Waver, a powerful sword that can shoot an even more powerful sword beam. The beam can travel up to 11,000 feet away, moves at 58 MPH, and can teleport up to three times, striking his target several times with every swing. How strong is this weapon? Well, the Destroyer is a creature made from an alloy not dissimilar to steel, and a weapon has to have a damage of over 21 to slightly injure it. The Influx Waver has an attack power of 110, making it theoretically able to injure something five times tougher than steel - and that teleporting beam is just as strong as the sword itself! More powerful still is the Star Wrath, a sword exactly as strong as the Influx Waver that causes star-shaped bursts of energy to fall from the heavens with every swing. Three beams fall per swing, which creates a lot more than you think, since Terraian can swing this sword three times a second! And each projectile hits with twice the force of the Star Wrath itself, resulting in a total damage level of about 1200 per second. That's insane!
"Hey!" Terrarian declares to the Demolitionist in an angry tone. "For your information, I'm an amazing sword…person…swordsman!"
But his most powerful sword, and possibly weapon, is the Meowmere. This sword is one of many weapons that can only be obtained from looting the corpse of Cthulhu's brother, the Moon Lord, who's powerful enough to easily move a small moon. This pink-and white blade can be swung nearly four times per second, has a base damage of 200 (nearly twice that of the other swords) and shoots out…um, rainbow cats. These "cat beams" travel at 68 MPH, can bounce five times, pierce through multiple enemies, and deal 244 damage with every hit. That makes the total DPS around 1500. Recall that 21 damage was enough to injure steel. Yup, this weapon is crazy overpowered.
But when his swords aren't handy, Terrarian has no problems doling out damage with his many, many other weapons. Since he likes to use his swords when he's up-close, he mainly sticks to his two best long-range weapons when his enemies are out of slashing distance. The first of these is the Pulse Bow, an incredibly powerful bow that, likely through some kind of magic, directly affects the arrows he puts into it. When he shoots any kind of arrow from this bow, it shines, ricochets off walls, and flies for 960 feet totally unaffected by gravity! Of course, he's had dozens of different arrow types of varying power, but what are generally considered his most powerful are the Luminite Arrows, which, after being fired, move at the speed of sound. Combined with this bow, a single shot deals 80 damage, and the Pulse Bow can shoot down his enemies incredibly fast. He's even able to draw, string his bow, load an arrow, and shoot and kill an enemy five times in less than two seconds! Best of all, he has almost two thousand Luminite Arrows to use with this thing - though they are useless if the bow breaks. Still, his best, and favorite, long-range weapon has to be the S.D.M.G. This dolphin-shaped machine gun can shoot twelve bullets a second and clears out hordes of monsters like little else. It may not make its ammo defy gravity, but it can still shoot as far as the Pulse Bow at a much faster rate, and while it, too, has almost two thousand sonic-speed Luminite Bullets, it comes with a magical enhancement that, 50% of the time, prevents the gun from consuming ammo, making its supply closer to three thousand. And, with the Luminite Bullets, it deals 99 damage with every shot. That's a DPS of almost 1200 - the same as the Star Wrath, and from a lot further away.
But it's not like those are his only weapons beyond stabbing distance. The Daybreak is a javelin that…throws other javelins, each made of hardened light and capable of piercing just about anything. These javelins will, after having impaled an object or foe, stick inside of it for some minutes, doling out 25 damage every quarter of a second. Up to eight javelins can pierce the same object at once before one must vanish, but for most monsters, that's way more than necessary. He also has five Light Discs that are basically boomerangs on steroids. They reach 40 feet away before instantly returning to Terrarian's hand, are completely indestructable, and deal 57 damage with each hit. More interesting, though, is that these discs can endlessly bounce off of pretty much any object, akin to Captain America's shield, ricocheting between a few targets, knocking down several enemies and then returning right to Terrarian's hand again. And he can throw all five at once in a huge light show of death and destruction. Almost as much destruction as his explosives! Terrarian's used plenty of explosives, but his most-used ones while battling are Dynamite, a powerful explosive that destroys any dirt, stone, sometimes even metal in a 14-foot radius, and deals 250 damage. He also has a few varieties of these explosives, like the Sticky Dynamite, which sticks to things, and the Bouncy Dynamite, which bounces. He holds thirty of each of these, but he holds almost a thousand Land Mines, which also create powerful, 250 damage explosions, but must be stepped on. But his most powerful explosive is the Holy Hand Grenade. When this golden piece of heaven explodes, everything else dies. It deals more than twice the damage and destroys twice the land as normal Dynamite, and lets it all go with a shout of "Hallelujah!" No, I'm not joking. However, he only has five of these grenades, and they all take…really long to blow up. As in… a full seven seconds after landing. The guy would have time to literally pick it up and toss it right back at its thrower, so Terrarian has to be careful when he uses it. Also, he kinda has to get out of the way well before it goes off, because a single Holy Hand Grenade will blow Terrarian into a thousand pieces splattered across whatever field he's in.
And while you've seen some of Terrarian's crazy side in the weapons already, you have no idea how crazy it gets with the full picture. One of this guy's most powerful weapons is…a yo-yo. But it's a super powerful yo-yo that can go through walls, reach fifty feet away, and summon dozens of homing projectiles to bore into the toughest monsters. This little thing is so awesome, Terrarian even named it after himself! The Terrarian Yo-Yo is the strongest yo-yo he's ever wielded by far, burning straight through metal, and deals 190 damage with every hit. He also wields a Luminite Hamaxe, which he uses for things like making firewood, fixing stairs, and utterly destroying everyone who gets in his way with a damage number of 60 with every swing. You know, normal things. The Vampire Knives may seem weak, but they deliver a surprisingly powerful punch when used effectively. These infinitely respawning knives drain away the life of their victims and restore some of it to Terrarian. He can throw up to eight at once, they ignore gravity, reach 108 feet away before dissipating, and each one deals 38 damage. With a Pickaxe made of Luminite, he can tunnel through virtually any material like it's thin air, including things like Iron, Tungsten, Steel, and even Lihzahrd, a mystical material that's harder and tougher than diamond. Speaking of Lihzahrd, he also has 999 Lihzahrd Blocks that he can build all kinds of barriers with.
The Cell Phone will magically imprint all kinds of information into Terrarian's vision, showing him the current weather, phase of the moon, his elevation level, distance from landmarks, the nearest valuable treasure, any dangerous creatures around the area, the time of day, the total number of approaching enemies, and all kinds of other things. Oh, and, if he's in a pinch, he can use it to teleport to his house. But that's not his only method of teleportation. With the Rod of Discord, Terrarian can teleport anywhere within a two hundred foot radius, though using it more than once every six minutes will shave off a seventh of Terrarian's health. Hence why he typically relies on the Portal Gun instead. Straight out of the classic Valve game, this gun can shoot portals. Well, beams that turn into portals when they hit a solid surface, whether it be a mountain or a moon. Entering one portal will end up with you exiting through the other, making it extremely useful for Terrarian to use when moving around the world, though it can only shoot two connecting portals and can't go through walls, people, or…well, any solids. For exploration purposes, he carries torches with him at all times - the brightest of all are White Torches, of which he carries nearly a thousand. And, finally, he carries a large pouch of Purification Powder on him - a magical powder that does magical things, mostly banishing evil and restoring lost souls.
Far more powerful than any of this, however, is the Stardust Dragon Staff. Using this staff will summon a dragon made of…er, stardust. This dragon is exceptionally powerful, capable of tearing through entire armies and disintegrating everything. It burns and destroys all enemies in Terrarian's way, but, lucky for it, the dragon exists on an astral plane, so, despite being able to still hurt and kill enemies, it can do things like go through walls, see invisible things, and can't be harmed by any normal weapon. Even the powers of gods don't typically affect this thing. And, with the assistance of some magical accessories, its length extends to sixteen feet (its upper limit is far higher, but requires massive magical assistance that we couldn't provide Terrarian with while still giving him his best equipment). The one downside is that, well, Terrarian can't actually control the dragon. It's its own being, and while magically created specifically to protect him, it will sometimes go after enemies far, far away, ignoring an entire horde that's right next to him. Also, it does cost a small amount of mana to summon - we'll get into that later.
Hence why he sometimes relies on other summons. The Rainbow Crystal Staff uses some mana to summon an airborne crystal that, although stationary, pretty much demolishes anything that gets within range, shooting out a light beam at any foes within 120 feet that creates an explosion after a small delay. Any enemies caught in said explosion take 150 damage - which makes destroying entire battalions of evildoers a cinch. Perhaps an even more powerful sentry can be summoned through the Lunar Portal Staff. This staff creates an astral portal that continuously fires a laser beam at anything that gets within 120 feet of it. This beam is surprisingly deadly, dealing a DPS of over 2000 sometimes. However, both the explosions and the beams can be avoided by fast enough enemies - but it doesn't really matter, because, as long as he has the mana, Terrarian can just keep respawning these sentries over and over, essentially teleporting each one to wherever he wants.
But his most powerful non-traditional weapon or item has to be the Solar Eruption. Part sword, part spear, part whip, and part flail, this weapon imbued with the power of the sun is all awesome. Think of it like Ivy Valentine's Snake Sword, but way deadlier and way cooler. While the Solar Eruption can be used like a normal sword (albeit an exceptionally powerful one), should Terrarian want a little more reach and a lot more destruction, it transforms into a giant sword-whip held by retracting chains. This slices right through enemies, burns down everything it touches, creates explosions, and can reach nearly sixty feet away and still be fully usable, returning back to sword form in an instant. Oh, and it goes through walls! At full power, this weapon can cut just about anything down to size instantly, and holds a DPS of up to 2500, thanks to the burning, the explosions, the piercing and the normal weapon itself.
Terrarian impales the Destroyer through the mouth with the Solar Eruption and, with a decisive slice, tears the metal beast apart instantly.
Let's not forget his many potions, each of which provides different long-lasting buffs that assist him when fighting. When he consumes the Endurance Potion, all damage taken is reduced by 10% for four hours. The Magic Power Potion lasts two hours and increases all magic damage by 20%. With the Night Owl Potion he can see in the dark for four hours and the Invisibility Potion turns him invisible for two. More useful for combat is the Inferno Potion, which, for four hours, creates a magical ring of astral fire around him, causing anything touching it to be set on fire. He also has a variety of Flasks, potions that imbue his weapons with the ability to inflict certain debuffs on his opponents. Poison, Paralysis, the works. The most powerful of these is the Flask of Cursed Flames, which causes any enemy damaged by his weapons to be enveloped in flames that not even water can put out for several minutes. And, with a combination of Dangersense, Hunter, and Spelunker Potions, Terrarian pretty much gains omniscience of the area around him - he's able to see and sense any traps, enemies, potential help, treasure, or, well, anything, within a few hundred feet. And every one of these potions lasts for hours and ALL his potions come in stacks of at least thirty. And, of course, he can activate all the potions at once if he wishes, providing a myriad of buffs.
Believe it or not, we still aren't done with this guy's weapons and items. Located on his body are several pieces of equipment that have…different uses, and he also keeps a place for each of them. He has a Light Pet that he summons with a Suspicious Looking Tentacle (yes, that's really what it's called). This pet is basically a giant eyeball that glows bright enough to light up the darkest of caverns, but can't actually hurt or even touch anything. If he happens to run into some minecart tracks, he can summon a Mechanical Cart, which can reach speeds of 102 MPH, but only move on said tracks. His primary tool for exploration, though, is the Static Hook, a grappling hook that reaches 80 feet away, latches onto any solid surface, and defies gravity. With this hook, Terrarian can retract and adjust the line however he wishes, choosing exactly how far up or down he wants to be from the latched point with no application to the laws of physics. He can even latch onto a different point in mid-air and won't fall while doing so! His best mount is, um, controversial, but I think it's pretty obvious that it's the Cosmic Car Key in a battle situation. This key summons a UFO for Terrarian to ride around on. Said UFO can fly and hover indefinitely and reach speeds of up to 45 MPH, 58 if he's moving diagonally. Oh, and, of course, he can use weapons inside of it.
And none of this even touches his magic weapons! Well, it kind of does - some of the weapons and items listed use a little mana initially, but these are the ones it was really meant for. The Rainbow Gun is a gun that shoots…rainbows. These rainbows do, in fact, have physical presence, and everything that crosses through them will take about 225 damage every second. While this rainbow has an extensive reach, Terrarian can only shoot one at a time - attempting to shoot another will cause the first to evaporate. Better than that is the Lunar Flare, a weapon that summons three powerful turquoise projectiles from the sky with every use. These projectiles explode upon impact, can be summoned pretty much from anywhere (passing through all solids in order to reach that place), and each deal 100 damage. And he can use it a bunch of times super quickly to pierce through everything. But his best magic-based weapon is the Last Prism. This triangle of death fires several light-based beams that converge into one insanely powerful beam. When it's all added together, this weapon could potentially dole out a DPS of 3600 - well above anything any of his other weapons can do.
The downside to these weapons is that they all (and some others we've listed) draw from his limited pool of mana to use. If he runs out of mana, he can no longer use said items - and while it does regenerate over time, it's at an incredibly slow rate. This is particularly bad news due to just how much mana Terrarian tends to use - both the Last Prism and Lunar Flare will use up all his mana in under three seconds, hence why he has 75 Super Mana Potions at the ready, with each one completely refilling his mana (though using them too frequently will lower the damage of his magic weapons). Matching this are his Super Healing Potions. He has 30 of these and each refills almost half his total health - though he has to wait nearly a full hour between uses, which means he has to be careful with how much damage he takes.
Thankfully, he can be a little less careful than he might otherwise thanks to his armor. Like his weapons, Terrarian has used dozens, if not hundreds, of different armors over the years, but he has four that are above all others, each dramatically increasing his abilities in one area. However, he only has room for two (and that's only thanks to vanity slots), and can only ever have one equipped at a time, so we'll take his two most recognized ones: the Solar Flare Armor, which prioritizes melee damage, and the Nebula Armor, which prioritizes magic damage. Starting with the Solar Flare Armor, this armor made of hardened fire boasts a Defense of 78, which means it reduces all attacks by 59 points of damage. It also naturally comes with several other buffs, including a 15% overall speed increase and 22% boost in strength. Equipping the full set grants an extra ability, too: if Terrarian's able to avoid taking any damage for five minutes, he gains one charge of a Solar Blaze bubble around him. After this, the next damage he takes is reduced by an extra 30% and creates a giant explosion! He can stack up to three charges at once, and even use up one in a short-range "dash" ability, which sends Terrarian flying at an enemy moving at 58 MPH and creates an explosion surrounding the enemy. Unfortunately, being a giant pillar of flame, this suit makes him kinda the most obvious thing in the world. No way he's hiding in it, and all enemies are further attracted towards him. Still, the benefits far, far outweigh any downside. On the magic side of things, we have the Nebula Armor, which holds a defense of 46, which means all attacks are reduced by 35 damage. This armor increases his magic pool's size by 30%, grants a 26% magic damage increase, and a 10% increase in speed. This armor's special ability is a bit…strange. After attacking an enemy, there's a chance a booster item will appear, and picking it up will grant Terrarian an 8-minute stackable buff. The Damage Booster increases his strength by 15% per buff, the Life Booster increases the rate of his healing factor, and the Mana Booster does the same for his mana regeneration.
But armor isn't all he wears to enhance his prowess. He also has several accessories that provide a variety of effects - though he can only hold twelve and only six can be active at once. Let's start off what we're giving him with perhaps the most important of all: the Solar Wings. With these wings, Terrarian can fly at speeds of at least 30 MPH, reach heights of 334 feet, and it allows him flight for a full three minutes. And while he does have to touch down after three minutes of flying, he can jump up and take flight once again instantly for another three minutes. Besides this, he has the Ankh Shield. While he doesn't use it in combat, this shield is exceptionally helpful because it's enchanted to ward off many different kinds of debuffs, included being frozen, burned, poisoned, confused, stunned, and even internal bleeding. Oh, and it also reduces knockback. The Celestial Shell increases all his stats by 10%, and can transform him. At night, he becomes a werewolf, stronger, faster, and deadlier than a normal terrarian, with superhuman senses as a bonus, and, when entering water, he becomes a merfolk, with proficient swimming capabilities and the ability to breathe underwater.
The Frostspark Boots increase his top speed to 34 MPH, up from 15 MPH, lets him hover in mid-air for a few seconds, and increases his mobility on ice. The Frozen Turtle Shell reduces all the damage he takes by 25% after he reaches half-health, the Sniper Scope allows him 10% more damage and the ability to see 10% farther while wielding ranged weapons, the Tiger Climbing Claws gives him the ability to latch onto, slide down, and climb up walls, and the Architect Gizmo Pack increases his building prowess to incredible levels. The Yo-Yo Bag adds a ghostly second Yo-Yo to the Terrarian Yo-Yo along with a counterweight and increases its range by 10 feet, the Papyrus Scarab makes the Stardust Dragon even longer and deadlier and increases the power of his sentries, the Bee Cloak unleashes angry bees and falling stars whenever he's attacked, and the Gravity Globe lets him reverse his own personal gravity, falling up instead of down, though he can't use it in mid-air. Finally, the Mana Flower allows constant use of magic weapons and abilities by automatically injecting Super Mana Potions into Terrarian as he needs them, so until he runs out of potions, he never needs to stop and refuel (though the damage decrease still applies).
HOLY CRAP, that's a lot of stuff. And with that, Terrarian's done some absolutely crazy things. But even without it, he's still strong enough to easily wield a giant hammer that would weigh over a ton, fast enough to dodge godly blows of magic lightning and dozens of lasers, and, with a life total of 500 Health plus armor, he's tough enough to take the explosion of two of his own Dynamite sticks and live. He can even run around and fight monsters effortlessly while wearing a full set of platinum armor, which would weigh over 3,000 pounds. However, as you may remember, his foes are typically…much, much stronger. How does he beat them? Well, Terrarian figured out from the start the strategy to defeating any physically superior foe. He's the epitome of a hit-and-run fighter, deciphering his opponent's patterns and going in when they take a breather, getting a few hits in and then retreating, dodging and avoiding all possible attacks until he gets another opportunity. Sure, it takes a while, but thanks to his infinite stamina, while his foe will eventually tire, Terrarian never will. He'll keep on the fight for hours if it means victory - and it does. Nobody has ever been able to take this guy down - and not for lack of trying.
With a final blow from the Terrarian's sword, the Moon Lord falls. It screams in agony as its essence is ripped apart and it vanishes forever. Instantly afterward, the Terrarian grabs the bag of treasure it leaves behind and wanders off, whistling.
Thanks to his fighting style and the nature of his world, Terrarian is theoretically capable of defeating any superior foe - a feat he's proved many times. He killed the Eater of Worlds, a giant corrupted worm monster who can destroy a whole town, with nothing but a copper shortsword - the absolute weakest weapon on the entire planet. Even a wooden practice sword is considered leagues better than that piece of junk. But Terrarian prevailed nonetheless. Even that's nothing to when he fought the Dungeon Guardian, a being literally made by the gods to be undefeatable. Since none of his weapons could do more than a single point of damage to it, he had to have hit the creature nearly twenty thousand times in order to do him in! And, when he did upgrade to a wooden practice sword, he fought off over a hundred demonic eye monsters on his way to a treasure. If that's what he can do with his weakest items, just imagine the overpowered things he can do with all the stuff we've given him - like killing the Destroyer, an all-metal and far, far more dangerous version of the Eater of Worlds with over ten times the durability and several times the strength, in under a minute. Or easily defeating Plantera, a giant jungle plant monster who was capable of uprooting an entire forest. Or invading a sacred temple filled with superhuman lizard people and killing the guy they called god. The guy's fought off several armies, all the uber-powerful monsters spawned during a Solar Eclipse, and held off an alien invasion - all on his own! After digging his way to hell, killing hundreds of demons and battling a giant wall that was basically Satan, he unleashed the incredibly powerful and deadly land known as the Hallow - and then he tamed it. He also fought and killed a magician with the powers of four other exceptionally powerful magicians alongside his own - and the death of this guy caused four pillars filled with very dangerous monsters to spawn. So he went out and destroyed them all and all their minions, who were far superior to any small monsters he'd faced till then! As penance for his actions, the Moon Lord, brother of Cthulhu and mover of the moon, came down to teach him a lesson and…well, you already know how that fight ends, don't you? But, finally, after killing dozens of bosses, fighting several armies, tearing up the entire world and rebuilding it, invading hell itself and the places it spawned, and killing a god, Terrarian, and the whole of the land of Terraria, was finally at peace.
But it had its fair share of struggles getting there, in part because of Terrarian. He's not the brightest tool in the shed, and usually has to rely on others to develop a strategy if his hit-and-run style isn't working. He only thinks he's an incredible swordsman, being, in reality, only very good. It's just that he's better than anyone else in the world he comes from. This also has lead to fair amount of overconfidence, which is very dangerous due to his low life total. If he rushes into a fight unprepared or is unexpectedly cornered, it's bye-bye Terrarian. It doesn't help that he takes so long when fighting his enemies. Sure, he has fought off powerful monsters in very short periods of time - when he had help.
"You defeated that creature in a very small amount of time," the Old Man informs the group of heroes seated in front of him. "But you only defeated it because you all worked together."
By himself, unless he completely outclasses the monster, he can take several hours to finish a fight. No to mention how exploitable his fighting style actually is - he's just lucky nobody's caught onto it yet. Also, because of how he fights, anyone with a healing factor that can't be worn down pretty much gets an instant win.
But nobody has yet. No matter the challenge, no matter the opponent, Terrarian has fought them and come out on top. If you wish to challenge this epitome of heroism, prepare for a slow, but certain, death.
"Uh-huh, okay, so let's see what we've got here." Terrarian opens his inventory and begins shuffling items around. "Put this there, grab a couple of those, put them over there, slot that over there, and we are swimming in awesome!"
A dark purple armor with an unnaturally powerful glow begins growing around Terrarian, forming itself around him until he's fully equipped.
Terrarian looks at his arm and grins. "Oh, yeah." He was ready to fight anything that stood in his way.
Terrarian:
Name: Alistair, the Terrarian
Species: Terrarian
Age: 1-2
Height: 6' / 183 cm.
Weight: 160 lb / 73 kilograms
Occupation: King of the Slimes
May be illiterate
Loves treasure
Wielded 471 different weapons
Abilities:
Superhuman Speed
Superhuman Strength
Infinite Stamina
Healing Factor
Weapons/Armor/Items:
Influx Waver
Star Wrath
Meowmere
Pulse Bow
S.D.M.G.
Luminite Arrows
Luminite Bullets
Daybreak
Light Discs
Dynamite
Sticky Dynamite
Bouncy Dynamite
Land Mines
Holy Hand Grenades
The Terrarian
Luminite Hamaxe
Vampire Knives
Luminite Pickaxe
Lihzarhd Blocks
Cell Phone
Rod of Discord
Portal Gun
White Torches
Purification Powder
Stardust Dragon Staff
Rainbow Crystal Staff
Lunar Portal Staff
Solar Eruption
Super Mana Potions
Super Healing Potions
Endurance Potions
Magic Power Potions
Night Owl Potions
Inferno Potions
Dangersense Potions
Spelunker Potions
Hunter Potions
Flasks of…many things
Suspicious Looking Tentacle
Mechanical Cart
Static Hook
Cosmic Car Key
Rainbow Gun
Lunar Flare
Last Prism
Nebula Armor
Solar Flare Armor
Solar Wings
Ankh Shield
Celestial Shell
Frostspark Boots
Frozen Turtle Shell
Sniper Scope
Tiger Climbing Claws
Architect Gizmo Pack
Yo-Yo Bag
Papyrus Scarab
Bee Cloak
Gravity Globe
Mana Flower
So much more, w/safes & piggy banks, over 2000 weapons and items
Feats:
Used a hammer weighing 1.3 tons
Dodges lightning and lasers
Survives sticks of dynamite and lasers and stuff to the face
No effect from 3,000 lb Platinum Armor
Never defeated
Killed King Slime w/ Copper Shortsword
Killed Eater of Worlds w/ Copper Shortsword
Killed Eye of Cthulhu w/ Copper Shortsword
Killed Brain of Cthulhu w/ Copper Shortsword
Killed Dungeon Guardian w/ Wooden Bow
Killed The Destroyer in less than one minute
Killed Plantera in less than ten minutes
Killed the Golem, (an ancient god)
Killed Duke Fishron
Killed Wall of Flesh (basically Satan)
Killed Skeletron (another ancient god)
Killed Skeletron Prime (a better robot of an ancient god)
Killed The Twins
Killed Lunar Cultists
Killed Lunatic Cultist
Killed everything in all four Lunar Pillars
Killed the Moon Lord (ultimate ancient god's brother), who could move a small moon
Killed off an entire Goblin Army by himself
Killed off an entire Solar Eclipse Event by himself
Killed off an entire Pumpkin Moon Event by himself
Killed off an entire Frost Moon Event by himself
Killed off an entire Blood Moon Event by himself
Killed off an entire Pirate Invasion by himself
Killed off an entire Sandstorm Event by himself
Killed off an entire Alien Invasion by himself
Killed off an entire Dungeon Defenders Army by himself
Killed off an entire army of evil snowmen by himself
Killed a lot, and I mean a lot, of other things
Tamed every evil and/or hostile world
Dug his way to hell, killed everything there
Over time, dug up and destroyed the entire planet
Weaknesses:
Overconfident
Fights take forever
Exploitable fighting style
…
All right, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all! It's time for a Death Battle!
…
"He's already killed the Moon Lord!" Din hissed. "And he's planning to travel to our dimension soon. If he gets his hands on the Triforce-"
"Patience, sister," Nayru declared. "Many have tried to claim the holy relic before. None have succeeded."
"Except Ganon. And Aghanhim. And Belloram. And Vaati. And-"
"I think Din's right," Farore decided. "Well, in some way. This guy is dangerous, and it's not like he's peaceful to others. He was made to tame planets, after all."
"So we must kill him now!" Din continued.
Farore backpedaled quickly. "Woah, I didn't say that! Maybe give him a nice talking to?"
Din shook her head. "Sister, I still wonder if I find your naivety revolting or endearing."
Nayru sighed. "The elder gods of that world no longer have a use for him. It…is logical."
Din nodded. "Glad you finally see reason." She looked at Farore. "Sister?"
Farore looked between the two other goddesses nervously. "Well-"
"Young Farore," Nayru interrupted. "He is your chosen hero, You need not send him on this mission if you do not wish it."
"No," Farore spoke slowly. "It's all right. That's what heroes do - they stop those that have gone too far…or eventually will."
Nayru nodded. "We'll contact him now."
…
Weeks later, it was an early morning without even sunrise yet in the world of Terraria, and one fire-clad hero was sneaking out of town. He'd nearly gotten away with it when he heard a voice.
"You didn't really think you'd be able to hide in that thing, did you?"
Terrarian turned to the Dryad speaking. She was sitting on a fencepost, wearing a green dress, quietly eating an apple. "Calista."
"Alistair," she declared in a mockingly deep voice. She laughed lightly. "You look like a walking, talking firecracker!"
"It strikes fear into the hearts of my enemies!" Terrarian protested. "And my name is Terrarian now. You know, chosen-"
"-savior of the world, created by the gods, yadda yadda yadda." She smiled. "After our adventures, you're always be Ali."
He took a seat next to her. "It's been a while since those days. Remember when we fought the Eater of Worlds together?"
"The giant worm? Of course I do!" She shook her head. "That feels like so long ago…"
"It's only been a year. Probably less," Terrarian replied. He smiled wistfully. "We've come a long way since then."
"You've come a long way," Calista corrected. "Look at you! You've defeated sorcerers, gods, and cancer! That oughta be something to be proud of. All I've done is…well, a lot of nothing."
"You've become happier. More carefree." Terrarian noted.
The dryad stared at her apple core. "Seems kind of an empty victory."
"Being happy with who you are is more important than almost anything else," Terrarian reminded her. "I'm…afraid I've become even harder than I was."
"Please," Calista scoffed. "You were the king of emo back in the day. You're so much better." She paused as the sun began to come up. "Tell you what. When you get back from…whatever you're doing, let's sit here again and talk some more. Only this time…" her eyes glinted. "There will be sake."
"I thought your kind didn't drink."
She winked. "Do we have a deal?"
Terrarian laughed - the first real laugh he'd had in a long time. "I'll be there." He stood up. "But until then, I have somewhere else to be."
Calista rubbed her fingers over the apple's core, and suddenly, it started to grow back. Within ten seconds it was a fully ripe apple again. She handed it to Terrarian. "Here. For luck."
Terrarian turned towards the wilderness. "Thank you." He closed his eyes. "I mean that."
…
Link appeared in the middle of nowhere. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He was in the middle of the woods, and he had no idea where in those woods he was, how big the woods were, or where the woods were located. All he knew was the goddesses needed him in the world. He had to find a man called "Terrarian" - a threat to Hyrule, and a man who had already killed gods. He was supposed to find this man - and end him. It wasn't a pretty mission - but if it was for the protection of his country and his land, he'd do it.
Oh, luck was on his side. Here came a warrior tromping through the woods right now. He was quite large, being even taller than Link, and appeared to be wearing armor made of hardened fire. That…was a scary thought. He waved at him. "Excuse me, prin- er, sir. I'm Link, Hero of Hyrule, and do you know where I can find the Terrarian?"
The man paused. "Almost anyone here could be considered a terrarian."
"Yeah, well, the one I'm looking for has killed a god or two."
The man nodded. "That would be me."
Link blinked. "Wait, really?"
"Yep."
"Huh. Well, this is awkward. See, uh, I'm…kinda here to kill you."
"Oh, is that all?" Terrarian seemed to wave the notion off. "Happens every day. Go ahead and try. But I'm warning you - if you fight me now, I'll see this through until the very end."
Link unsheathed his Golden Sword as his tunic's color changed from green to red. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
-FIGHT!-
Link swung and unleashed three sword beams at Terrarian, who quickly dodged to the left of all of them as a gray-ish sword formed in his hand. He jumped and took a stabbing blow that glanced off of Link's Mirror Shield.
Terrarian backed up. "Huh. Most of the time, those shields break."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Link replied, and charged forward.
"Yeah, me too." Terrarian swung his Influx Waver again, this time to shoot out a sword-shaped beam. Link shoved his Mirror Shield forward to reflect it, but it vanished before it hit the shield.
"Wha-"
It suddenly appeared again behind Link and stabbed into his side. Link gasped in surprise and the beam teleported again, this time stabbing his forearm, then again in his leg. He finally realized what was happening and swung his sword around to catch the ghostly blade - but it no longer existed. Link's ears picked up a shuffle of feet and whirled around, barely in time to block the Influx Waver from piercing his skull.
"You made a mistake bringing the fight close," Link declared, and, swung the Golden Sword down to cut right through Terrarian.
Who easily dodged to the side before Link had time to see him.
Link blinked and swung several more times, his arm moving faster than the eye could see - but each and every blow was narrowly dodged and countered by Terrarian. His steps were smooth, but precise, and he seemed able to find the small spaces in between the lightning-fast strikes in order to not be hit. Link performed a Spin Attack, but Terrarian jumped over it beautifully. Terrarian finally swung again, matching the Golden Sword once, and then ducked down, rematerialized the Influx Waver in his other hand, and stabbed Link in the side.
Link kicked him away and backflipped out of danger. He equipped the Heart Ring and pulled out the Nice Bow. Terrarian was fast, but dodging nine arrows a second ought to be difficult even for him. Link began shooting away. Terrarian cut down several arrows with the Influx Waver and blocked the strays with a quick wall of Lihzarhd. Link fired another three-pack of arrows, these with blue tips. Terrarian paid no attention and swung to cut them down as well, but his sword and the hand carrying it were quickly frozen in a block of ice. Immediately, Terrarian switched out his Bee Cloak for the Ankh Shield, and the ice began melting. It hadn't even been a full second, however, when Link shot it with an explosive arrow, which shattered the ice and the Influx Waver with it. Link kept shooting, arrow after arrow, fire, ice, all kinds of arrows were being fired and dodged.
"Okay, that's enough," Terrarian decided. A translucent bubble built around him, and he rammed forward at more than twice his normal speed. The arrows bounced off of his dashing form and he rammed into Link, creating an explosion that knocked Link back several feet.
Link stopped, cast the Shield Spell, and drank half a Blue Potion, healing every wound and replenishing every bit of magic from the fight thus far. "Neat trick. I've got a better one." He placed a mask over his face and, with a shout, changed forms completely, becoming far larger, bulkier and…made of rock? Goron Link curled into a spiked ball and rammed forward.
Terrarian materialized his Hamaxe in his right hand and waited for a second as Goron Link drew closer, then delivered a powerful upswing, knocking Goron Link up in the air. A giant jump and another swing later, and he was sent zooming away into the distance. Terrarian waved the Rod of Discord and appeared next to Goron Link, who had fallen miles away into a river. Without hesitation, he dove in, the Celestial Shell shifting his body into that of a Merfolk. He swam through the water as easily as he walked on land, and summoned the Star Wrath to cut into Link. But Link was a fast thinker. He had barely touched the water's surface before equipping the Zora mask, and now he flipped around, breathing easily, and met the Star Wrath with his own boomerangs. He shoved Terrarian back and threw the boomerangs at him. Terrarian instantly threw out all five Light Discs, two of which matched Zora Link's boomerangs, and the others struck Zora Link, forcing him back as he grabbed his chest in pain. Zora Link grabbed his boomerangs and slashed forward with them, but Terrarian just swam backwards and sliced forward several times with the Star Wrath. Zora Link blocked each slice with ease, then dug one of his blades into the river's bottom, using the current's movement to propel himself forward, the momentum of which tore the boomerang free and sent it forward with Link's arm, several times faster than he would have otherwise gone. The blade pierced right through the mermaid-like Terrarian's armor and into his body. Surprisingly, this seemed to injure Terrarian greatly, as blood spilled out quickly and easily before suddenly stopping.
So, he could deliver the pain, but he couldn't take it.
Terrarian grimaced. Even as a merfolk, he didn't have his full agility underwater. It was hard to avoid these attacks. Zora Link flipped around instantly and slashed twice more with both blades, cutting further into the surprised Terrarian, who shouted in pain. He needed to hold out. What was taking those falling stars so long?
He had no sooner thought this than a group of star-shaped projectiles pierced the water and exploded on top of Link. Link shouted, jumped out of the water, and dove onto solid ground. Terrarian jumped out after him, transforming to his normal state. Link threw out both boomerangs, but on land it was easy for Terrarian to dodge them. He jumped into the air and rolled between the flying blades, delivering a huge smash into Link with the Star Wrath – only for Link to remove the Zora mask and block the blow with the Mirror Shield. Not to be deterred, Terrarian swung again and again, dozens of times striking the shield, before the same amount of projectiles fell from the clouds. Link, however, simply cast another spell, and they were all repelled.
Link backed up. "This has been fun, but I get the feeling you're not going all out."
Terrarian shrugged. "No, not really. Do you want me to?"
Link grinned. "If you will, I will."
"Sounds fair." Terrarian jumped into the air and, in a display of glorious light, giant fiery wings appeared on his back. He dove down at superhuman speeds and plunged his sword into a surprised Link's shoulder. He dropped a dynamite stick, switched to his Light Discs, flew up, and threw all five at angles, forcing them to bounce and hit Link in several spots right before the dynamite exploded, sending Link flying into the air and smashing him right into the falling star, which sent him down with another powerful explosion. To top it all off, he flew downwards, blade sticking out, intending to end it all off with a final impale.
But Link reached up with a metal-clad hand and grasped the Star Wrath as it dropped. He drank up another half of a blue potion and stared at Terrarian. "My turn." He kicked up with his left leg, knocking Terrarian back, and punched forward with a stream of electricity, which quickly shocked Terrarian and forced him to drop from the sky. In a second, Link was on top of him, performing a flurry of incredibly powerful punches – all of which hit absolutely nothing. Link gasped as he felt a sword pierce his side and turned to see Terrarian calmly drinking a heath potion. Link instantly launched a punch, but Terrarian scooted to the left of it. He went in with a right hook, but Terrarian fell to the down and rolled away. A earthquake punch, and Terrarian jumped into the sky and fell down, smashing Link's Mirror Shield with another slice. A quick one-two combo was deftly dodged, and an uppercut was blocked by the blade of the Star Wrath. Two stars fell from the sky, and Link jumped out of the way before they could hit him. He pulled out a massive Ball & Chain and, with minimal effort, hurled it at Terrarian. Unfazed, Terrarian brought out his own legendary yo-yo and, as the mace-head fell over him, threw it upwards. The impact from the Terrarian Yo-Yo, plus the many lasers and ghostly second one, reversed the spiked ball's momentum, send it flying back at Link. Link caught it with one gauntlet, threw it to the ground and then began spinning. After gaining plenty of his own momentum, he flung it out again – and the Terrarian Yo-Yo matched it exactly. The two traded yo-yos for a bit before Terrarian suddenly charged through with a shield bash, knocking down Link and striking at him with the yo-yo. The Mirror Shield blocked the main one, but the secondary yo-yo caught him in the cheek and sent him reeling with a burning sensation.
Link backed away. "Got any more tricks?"
"Maybe a few," Terrarian replied. He held up a staff – and a monstrous dragon made of blue flames emerged from it.
"Cool," Link declared, nodding. "I've got one of those, too." He held out his Flame Rod and a monstrous dragon made of orange flames emerged from it. The two beasts collided in mid-air and began to fight as Link and Terrarian continued their bout. Link exchanged his gauntlets for the Skull Hammer, which matched the Hamaxe for a bit before Terrarian put up a wall of unbreakable Lihzarhd. Link cast the Jump spell and jumped over it, but Terrarian instantly used his pickaxe to dig far underground. Not letting him escape this fight, Link activated the Quake Medallion, causing what he assumed were massive cave-ins and the whole earth to shake below him. Terrarian dug his way back to the surface right away and began launching Daybreaks at Link. Link blocked three with his Mirror Shield before one cut his cheek. He grabbed it as it passed him and hurled it back, but, of course, Terrarian was too quick for it to have any real effect.
"You know what? I'm done here." Link pulled out the Golden Sword and activated the Ether Medallion, the frost disintegrating his fire dragon and freezing Terrarian's Solar Wings. Link was mildly surprised when it didn't do the same to the Stardust Dragon, but one Blue Potion and a sword beam later, and it was gone, too. He pointed the blade at the now-grounded Terrarian. "You want me to go all out? Here you go." He pulled out the Fierce Deity's Mask and put it on. Suddenly, there was another soul inside him. It felt…foreign. Powerful. Unrelenting. It was taking over his whole body – transforming it, making it stronger and deadlier.
Fierce Deity Link had arrived.
"Wow," Terrarian muttered sarcastically, "I've never seen something like that before."
Fierce Deity Link pulled out his double-helix sword. "You may have overwhelmed the spirit who previously used this body…but you will find me a far more difficult host to defeat. For I am a god, and you are merely a man."
Terrarian pulled out the S.D.M.G. "Said it yourself, freak. I've killed gods before." He unleashed a massive load of Luminite Bullets, moving faster than the eye could track, all aimed at Fierce Deity Link. But Fierce Deity Link just swung his Helix Sword once, creating a massive airwave that knocked every bullet from the air.
Terrarian blinked. "Okay, you're strong. But are you fast-"
"Yes," interrupted Fierce Deity Link from behind him.
The only thing that saved Terrarian was his built-up shield. The moment the Helix Sword made contact with it, an explosion was set off, halting the blow just long enough for Terrarian to duck his head. Terrarian used his static hook to pull his out of the way instantly and onto his previously-built wall of Lihzarhd. He materialized the Portal Gun in his hands, shot a portal onto the wall below him and another one right below Fierce Deity Link, intending for him to fall through, come out right below him, and get stabbed in the face. Instead, though, Fierce Deity Link just ran forward at incredible speeds towards Terrarian, the portal opening way too late. Terrarian tried to shoot him down with the S.D.M.G., but he was just too fast, dodging every bullet that came his way as if he could see them coming. As Fierce Deity Link finally closed the distance, Terrarian jumped out of the way of the massive sword he was swinging. It stuck the wall of Lihzarhd full force – and slice right through it.
Terrarian gasped. Okay, that thing was way stronger than he'd thought it was. One hit form it and he was dead. He materialized the Daybreak and threw spears at the ground, hoping to guide this fellow to a point where he could be trapped, but instead he simply walked through the light spears, each one snapping as he did. Terrarian shot out the Static Hook to escape, but Fierce Deity Link grew his sword to a size long enough to reach it and sliced right through the hook. Terrarian backed up and materialized the Star Wrath. As Fierce Deity Link approached and swung, he used the blade to skim off of his, which, in turn, gave him the momentum to scoot away. But for as fast as he was, it seemed Fierce Deity Link was faster. He suddenly appeared, right in front of him.
"Can't let you escape that easily. You insulted me."
"I didn't say anything about you!" Terrarian swung at him.
Fierce Deity Link caught the Star Wrath with one hand and batted away the falling star with the back of his other. "These pathetic attacks are insult enough." He squeezed hard and the Star Wrath shattered under his grasp. He kicked the shocked Terrarian once and sent him flying dozens of feet away. "You're outmatched." He raised his sword to the sky, and it grew. It grew taller than the trees, taller than the mountains, taller than the clouds. He took the handle with both hands and readied the final blow. "As you can see, I've been holding back. No more. This ends, here and now."
Terrarian woozily got up and chuckled.
Fierce Deity Link swung.
"Neat speech," declared Terrarian. "But what you haven't realized is…"
He looked up at the sword parting the clouds, on its way to pulverize him.
"I've been holding back, too."
Terrarian summoned the Meowmere.
The Helix Sword fell.
And it was blocked.
Terrarian used the Rod of Discord to teleport above the giant sword and to Fierce Deity Link, where he delivered an abundance of slashes that impaled him in several places, which, in turn, released cat beams that also impaled him in several places. Terrarian changed into the Nebula Armor to enhance his magic and instantly set up the Rainbow Crystal and Lunar Portal, both of which rained upon Fierce Deity Link with insanely powerful lasers. Fierce deity Link hopped out of the way, shrank his sword, and sliced right through both sentries. That didn't deter Terrarian, though, who flew into the air and shot a Rainbow Blast right at him. Fierce Deity Link was pierced by it and shouted in pain before deflecting it with his sword. Terrarian summoned his UFO with the Cosmic Car Key and, flying around fast enough to not be hit by the enraged god, used the Lunar Flare to rain more and more pain from the sky. He was losing incredible amounts of mana, but with his Mana Flower active, it didn't matter much to him. He just needed an opening, and…there.
Terrarian rammed downward at nearly 60 MPH and struck Fierce Deity Link with a face full of Purification Powder.
The Fierce Deity howled as the restoration-based powder drove his soul out of Link's body. Mere moments later, the original Link remained, head throbbing, sneezing, and very much confused.
"Wha-"
Link deflected a strike from the Meowmere with is Mirror Shield along with the incoming cat beam. "How did this happen?!"
"It just so happens I'm a priest in my spare time. Banishing evil spirits is good exercise."
"Well," Link replied angrily. "Don't think you've made this easier on yourself. He was strong, but I'm strategic. Also," he stated as he put away the Golden Sword and pulled out the Four Sword, "I have a lot more tools."
There was a flash and there were suddenly four multicolored Links standing there. They all spoke simultaneously. "You couldn't defeat one of me. How about-"
Terrarian jumped out of the UFO, kicked the Four Sword out of the Green Link's hand, stuck over two dozen sticks of sticky dynamite to it, threw it into the air, and hit it with a seven-second blast from the Last Prism.
The sword fell to the ground, very charred and very damaged, and Terrarian obliterated it with a swipe form the Meowmere.
All the other Links vanished as Green Link just stared, openmouthed.
"Sorry," Terrarian replied, shrugging. "I've just had enough of this fight."
Link brought out his bow and subtly nocked a Light Arrow. "Me too." He raised and fired.
There was no way Terrarian, who wasn't expecting this, could dodge the arrow. But he didn't need to, because it passed right through him and did absolutely nothing.
"Huh," Link stuttered.
Terrarian blinked. "Well, I'm not complaining" He materialized the S.D.M.G. and shot out a few hundred more bullets. This Link wasn't as fast as the last one. He probably couldn't dodge them all.
Link saw the bullets coming and immediately equipped the Magnetism Glove. He threw his hand forward and every bullet was repelled instantly. He pulled the S.D.M.G. away from the Terrarian and sliced through it with one swing of the Golden Sword. He drank another Blue Potion. "What else have you got?"
"This," replied Terrarian. He equipped the Solar Eruption and sent it flying, whip form, at Link, who tried to control it with Magnetism glove, but it wasn't working. Link teleported out of the way and cast Din's Fire to incinerate the sword, but it absorbed the fire and moved on. Link blocked it with his Mirror Shield, but all Terrarian had to do was jerk it once, and it flung upwards over the shield and unleashed an explosion. Link was knocked back and the whip impaled his chest. Terrarian pulled back, causing the Solar Eruption to retreat and pull Link towards him. Link quickly shot out a Clawshot, grasping the top of a tree and pulling himself over there. Terrarian took the opportunity to ingest all of his potions. Link tried to shoot him down, but he was faster, stronger, and very much omniscient. He dodged every arrow effortlessly – even the Light Arrows, since he knew exactly where they were and where they would be. He flew down at Link and used the Solar Eruption to unleash a variety of attacks, completely overwhelming Link with the snake sword until he was cut all over and gasping for breath. Link pulled out a Blue Potion, but Terrarian sliced right through it before he could drink. Link teleported to the ground and pulled out another, but Terrarian could tell exactly where he'd gone and was there, breaking it, a second later. Another second, and Link was completely wrapped in the flame-wreathed sword.
"What was that about this not being easy?" He stepped closer. "You really have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?"
Link teleported out of the sword's hold, clipped Terrarian in the head, forcing the blade to retreat into sword form once more, and held the Golden Sword to his throat. "I've dealt with so many like you."
"I doubt that," Terrarian replied, and extended the Solar Eruption again, impaling Link through the stomach and forcing him back. Terrarian fluffed his robes once and retreated the sword. "Well, that was that." He turned around, but his potion forced him to notice the slight movement of Link's hand. He turned back. "Still alive, huh? That must suck. Let's see what you were trying to grab." He grasped Link's hand and pulled it up. Link's sleeves fell down, revealing the Triforce on his wrist.
Terrarian fell back slightly. "The…Triforce? I thought…it was just a legend." He stuttered a bit. "So…s-so that's how you're bael to hang on for so long. You come from Hyrule, right? So that's where the wish-granting relic is hiding. I know a guy – I might be able to get there. One last big score – the whole universe." He grinned. "That's not such a bad way to end a career, is it?"
Link breathed out and got onto his knees. "You…aren't…touching that thing! You…you don't deserve-"
"I've found a lot of things I didn't deserve. Didn't stop me from taking them. You're not going to be stopping me, anyway."
"No…" Link gasped. He closed his eyes. He felt…something. A surge of power. Of life. Of energy.
Of greed.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
A golden triangle appeared out of nowhere and entered into Link's soul. His eyes turned red and he grew massive tusks. "YOU CAN"T HAVE WHAT'S MINE!"
Terrarian turned and saw the bloodlusted, Triforce of Power-filled Link. "Oh. Uh-oh." He threw the Solar Eruption forward.
It bounced off of Link's energy shield and fell to the ground. Link grabbed it, feeling no pain whatsoever, and, with one inhale, drained it of its magic, transforming it into just a normal sword.
Terrarian flew up into the sky and summoned the UFO again. He held out the Lunar Flare, and hundreds of shards fell towards Link. But Link just waved his hand and took complete and total control over the magical projectiles. He shot them at the UFO, ripping and tearing through it at multiple points.
Ooh, there was some fire magic in that engine. Link snapped his fingers and the whole thing went out in a fiery explosion of death. Terrarian barely got out of it in time.
"You think you're powerful?!" Terrarian shouted. "THIS IS POWER!" He equipped the Last Prism and shot out a full-powered blast.
But Link just blocked it with one hand.
Terrarian poured more mana into the beam, and it went bigger, stronger, faster. But Link just blocked it with the one hand held out in fornt of him. Link suddenly jumped up, high into the air, and sntched the Prism out of his hands.
"A quaint little relic," he mused. "But no match for the Triforce of Power." He squeezed his hand, and the Prism shattered, then, under Link's command, recollected itself into a ball of pure destructive magic. He hurled it at Terrarian who desperately dove out of the way. The ball went far past him – and then there was the sound of a massive explosion.
Link sighed. "Oh, dear, did I hit the moon?" He snapped his fingers and the day turned to night, revealing moon shards scattered among the stars. "Whoops." He snapped his fingers again, turning the night to day. "Well, that's going to be annoying for whoever's left on this planet when I'm finished." He stepped forward and the skies filled with lightning. Terrarian was knocked from the sky and plummeted to the earth. Another stomp, and an earthquake broke out, shattering the ground around them and leveling the nearby mountains. Upon Link's command, the missing ground shifted into sand and reformed itself under their feet. "Do you understand the extent of my power now? Do you understand how hopeless this is?"
"What I understand," replied, Meowmere materializing in his hand, "is that you're even less fit for that power than I am."
Link's eyes narrowed. "So be it. I think I'll finish you off in style. Have you ever been stopped in time before?"
Terrarian rushed forward.
Link pulled out the Phantom Sword. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience." He activated the sword's powers, and…
Nothing happened.
Link glanced at the sword. "Strange, that usually works." He blocked the incoming blow from Terrarian.
"What usually works?"
"This sword. It stops time. But it's not working."
"Really? That's too bad for you, becau-"
Link snapped his fingers and Terrarian was turned into a stone statue of himself. "Well, at least that's over." He glanced around – and spotted the Triforce of Courage lying on the ground. So that's why the Phantom Sword wasn't working. "Well, who needs you?!" Link shouted. He snapped his fingers again, opening a portal to the eternal void, and tossed the Phantom Sword into it. The portal closed right after. "I'm powerful enough without you! I'll destroy this puny world! No! I'll make it better! Because it will be all about me! We'll have fairs, and festivals, and parties, and…well, those are all kind of the same thing. Well, I'll think of something."
"Like this?" the suddenly-very-not-made-of-stone Terrarian replied form behind him. Link whirled around – and inhaled another faceful of Purification Powder. He screamed. The malice, greeed, anger – the power, it left his body, just like the evil spirit from before. Again, all that was left was normal old Link. The Triforce of Courage instantly jumped back into him.
"I'm not playing around this time, Terrarian announced. He stabbed Link through the chest once more – no, twice more. No, three times. Four, five six. That should do it.
Link gasped, bleeding everywhere. Terrarian prepared a final slice to the head when Link raised his hand and vanished.
…
Link spilled out onto a large rock in a cave. He gasped for breath. Had he…really just taken the Triforce of Power back? He hadn't meant to. Or had he? Did the goddesses intend for him to take the Triforce, or was it all his own doing? Regardless, he'd caused quite a bit of damage with that form - both to Terrarian and himself. Oh, and, apparently, he'd blown up a moon. That wasn't going to be good for this place. Thankfully, somehow, Terrarian had managed to knock the Triforce out of him. He was comfortable with his own third of the relic. He counted his Potions – only one left. He needed some of it now, but better not use the other half unless it was emergency. He took off the Heart Ring and replaced it with the Red Ring. One hit. Maybe two. That's all he would need. He dug through his knapsack and pulled out a stopwatch. That guy was fast, but he probably couldn't move when time was stopped. He stood all the way up and accidentally hit his head on a stalactite. He dropped the watch and grabbed his head in surprise and slight pain. A blink later, and the pain was gone. He grabbed the stopwatch from the ground and got right to work on it – never noticing the spring that had popped out when it fell.
Terrarian, meanwhile, had an idea. That much was rare enough, but far better was that it was a good idea. As he planted his Land Mines, he hummed to himself. He'd have to sacrifice both of his armor sets for it to work, but it almost guaranteed victory. He just needed to hold out.
…
"Well, look who decided to show his face again," Terrarian announced.
"At least I'm willing to do that much," Link challenged. "Take off that helmet. Let's see the real you."
Terrarian was actually surprised. He had been looking for an excuse to get out of this armor so he wouldn't trip the magic-bound Land Mines without it seeming suspicious. Now this guy had given him a perfect opportunity.
"I'll do you one better," he announced. A wave of his hand, and his armor vanished, appearing strewn around the ground surrounding him. For the first time, the two were completely face-to-face.
Link leaned back. "I've seen that look before."
"The look of a warrior?"
"Of a killer. Of someone who solves all his problems by destroying them."
"Okay, I get that you were all possessed and stuff, but you were seriously about to do that same thing to be, like three times in the last half an hour! Besides, how, exactly, did you get your title, Hero of Hyrule?"
"I've made some tough calls in my life. And, yeah, I kill – occasionally, even others like me. But I do it for the greater good. When the world is plagued with darkness, someone needs to be there-"
Terrarian interrupted him with a spray of Vampire Knives. Three struck Link, forcing him slightly back. "I get sick of talking. Especially to someone who wants to kill me." He threw out several more, but Link was faster this time and blocked each one with the Mirror Shield.
"See, now, that shield is going to be a problem," Terrarian declared. He threw out all five of his Light Discs at Link and Link easily blocked each one with his shield, bouncing them back to Terrarian's hand. Terrarian moved forward and threw them all again. Link stepped backwards subconsciously and blocked them again. They continued a few more times before Terrarian threw the Light Discs and, hidden in the bundle, a Holy Hand Grenade. Link bounced them all away, but was surprised when one didn't go back to Terrarian's hand. With a second glance, he instantly realized it was a grenade, and instinctively kicked it at Terrarian before diving out of the way. For his part, Terrarian hit it with a Light Disc, sending it falling towards the ground once more before going off. The resulting explosion and shout of "Hallelujah!" sent both combatants reeling - but Terrarian, having expected it, composed himself first. He used the Frostpark Boots and streamed towards Link, closing the distance between the two almost instantly. A shove of the shoulder and Link was sent backwards into the sand. Link scooted back and held up his shield to prepare for another attack. Terrarian calmly and smoothly walked in a circle around Link, stepping on several mines, but, thanks to his magic, not triggering any of them. He suddenly threw out the Terrarian Yo-Yo. Link bounced it off the Mirror Shield and, this time, made sure to get the second one, too. Terrarian bounced the yo-yo forward a few times, releasing dozens of lasers, but the Mirror Shield was impenetrable. Link further utilized that impenetrability by catching the yo-yo's head under the shield. He grasped it and pulled on the string, pulling Terrarian towards him. Terrarian attempted to resist, but Link was stronger than he was. But Terrarian knew his yo-yos. He instantly spread his wings and took flight over Link's head. The string came with him and so did both the Terrarian Yo-Yo and the Mirror Shield attached to it. Link backed up in surprise. That was his big defensive tool - without it, he was far more vulnerable. He dug out the Sand Wand and stretched it upwards, sending the sand around him up to retrieve his shield. Terrarian deftly dodged the blasts of sand and, with his free hand, threw down a few Daybreaks at Link's feet. Link, as Terrarian expected, backed up without looking where he was going - and stepped right on top of a Land Mine. The explosion sent Link into the air and badly injured his legs. Link couldn't even process what had just happened entirely - all he knew was that there was searing pain, and he'd lost his grip on…something.
That "something" was the Sand Wand. As it was launched into the air, Terrarian dove down and nabbed it for himself. Link hit the ground and gasped. He tried to stand up, but his legs burned with incredible pain the moment he put any weight on them. Why had he picked this particular moment to not wear his Whisp Ring? That really could've helped him now. He looked up into the sky at Terrarian. He needed that Mirror Shield back. If he couldn't get up there, he'd just have to bring Terrarian down here. He pulled out the Gust Jar and began its suction. Terrarian was clearly affected, but he tried to resist it for some time. He nearly succeeded, but when Link forced him to lose his focus with a few hits from the Hyper Slingshot, he came crashing down. He got up instantly, shaking the dust off of him.
"You want your stuff?!" He shouted to Link. "You can have it!" He let go of everything he was holding and flew up over a hundred feet.
Link paused. "What's he thinking?"
Then he heard a slight ticking.
Link cast the Jump Spell and jumped out of the way just in time. Far under the sand, a Holy Hand Grenade had been unleashed. The sand became a whirlpool, and his Mirror Shield, Hyper Slingshot, and Sand Wand were all sucked down into the depths alongside the Terrarian Yo-Yo.
Terrarian cursed silently. Getting rid of that pesky shield had been the plan all along, but he didn't expect to lose one of his favorite weapons in the process. Well, it couldn't be helped now. It was time for the rest of the trap. He flew down at Link and began spinning the Meowmere, sending dozens at cat lasers at him. Link pulled out his Golden Sword and redirect as many as he could, but one hit his already-tender right leg. Link cried out in pain, and Terrarian quickly capitalized on this. He threw down several sticks of Dynamite, forcing Link to stay on the move. Link rolled out of the way right before each exploded in turn, but he was running out of energy - and Terrarian knew he didn't have much healing power left.
Terrarian threw out even more dynamite before Link stopped, turned, and suddenly cast the Thunder Spell. Instantly, all the Dynamite exploded mid-air, and Terrarian was sent down to the ground, smoking. Link was on him instantly, having equipped some kind of boots to make him far faster than- UH! Link had somehow gotten in a quick hit! How was that possible? He was much too fast to- URCH!
Link only hit Terrarian twice, but that was twice more than Terrarian wanted. He launched four more Daybreaks at the speeding Link, guiding him to the left, while Link continually lobbed bombs at him. Terrarian lobbed back. At one point, a Nice Bomb and Holy Hand Grenade collided and exploded mid-air. It didn't actually affect the fight, but it looked cool. But whether or not Link knew, it, Terrarian had the upper hand here. He had to carefully guide Link towards…there he was.
Link tripped over something very large and was sent sprawling onto the desert sand. As he stood, he stepped on one more Land Mine, which blew his boots off and sent him into incredible pain. He fell to his knees and breathed heavily for almost a minute. When he looked up, he could tell something was wrong - but it took him a moment to realize what it was. He was sinking.
Link instantly cast the Jump Spell again and started squirming his way out of there like crazy, but this wasn't like other quicksand. It was far stronger, and acted with…intent.
"Carefully placed explosives and Lihzarhd," Terrarian announced. "Sand is always shifting. I just had to figure out how to shift it in my favor. That hole you're in will never get deeper, but…" his voice grew more serious. "You will never escape."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Link shouted at him. He raised his left hand and tried to cast Farore's Wind…but nothing happened.
"Uh-uh, no teleporting," Terrarian declared. "Those sinkholes are lined with the remnants of my Nebula Armor, now sporting inverted stitching and an inside out scheme. Before, it enhanced magical power. Now, it stops it. You aren't getting out of there anytime soon."
Link inhaled sharply, then let out an intimidating laugh. "You're fast. You're tricky. But even you can't escape time." He pulled out his stopwatch, clicked the top – and nothing happened.
Terrarian blinked. "I mean, I guess not, but you're kind of-"
"No, that's…wrong! This should be working!" Link clicked it a few more times. He grimaced and looked at Terrarian sheepishly. "You see, it…um, stops time. But it's not working."
"Like the sword?"
"Yeah, like the sword."
Terrarian shrugged. "I guess today's not your day." The Pulse Bow appeared in his hands. "And a few arrows dipped in a Flask of Poison…" he shot several times and pierced four arrows in each of Link's legs. Link cried out in pain and tried all the harder to escape, but it just drove the arrows in deeper. "That was just to make sure you don't escape. The more those arrows move, the faster the poison travels through your blood." The Pulse Bow vanished and the Meowmere appeared instead. "Yeah, this is the end." He jumped and flew at Link.
Link fought back tears. The pain was horrible. The burns from those mines combined with the poisoned arrows and the grainy sand boring its way into his legs. He couldn't move - he couldn't do anything. If he stayed here, he'd die. He had to escape. Somehow, he needed to get out of this trap. He jumped and crossed his knees - but the arrows drove all the way through, hitting bone and causing Link to shout in pain. The tears did come now - flowing helplessly down his cheeks as he realized this was the end. There was no way out of this trap. Not this time. After this pain, death might even be welcome. He closed his eyes, and prepared himself.
But instead of seeing death in his mind, he saw a memory.
Link breathed in the fresh air of the meadow and laid back on the bright blue-and-white checkered picnic blanket. The birds sang happily and perched around him, but it didn't bother him. He liked their music. Sometimes, it even gave him an idea for a new song for his ocarina. Oh, that reminded him of something. He rolled over and faced Zelda, who was lying down next to him, blonde hair spread out in a very un-royal fashion and the world's purest smile on her face. He noticed she'd shoved the picnic basket to the side, probably because she didn't want to accidentally roll into it and spill everything out.
Link sat up. "Hey, Zel. I remembered a new song."
Zelda's eyes fluttered open. "Remembered, as in, from your childhood, or from…?"
"Another me, yeah. I don't know why…but I think this one was important. More so than most others."
She turned her gaze to him curiously. "What's it called?"
"I don't remember the name totally. Ballad…something…Fish."
She blinked. "That's a stupid name."
"Well, it's not a stupid song."
Her eyes glinted. "Prove it."
He took out the Ocarina of Time and put it to his lips, and a melody began to pour out. It seemed to rock the very air itself, and carried the weight of many people. Many souls. Somebody somewhere had loved this song more than anybody had loved anything. In his heart, he knew that. He had a special connection to this song - he just wished he knew how or why. When he finished, he put the ocarina down and took off his hat. "I learned it from a girl named Maron."
"It's…beautiful." There was a moment of silence. "What happened to her?"
"I…don't know. I get the strangest feeling…that I left her somewhere I could never return to."
That put a damper on the mood. There was silence for a full minute before Link broke it. "Look, Zel-"
"No, Link," Zelda declared. She bit her lip. "I know you have to go to that new world. I know you have a mission. I know you won't be back for a long time. It's just…hard."
"Yeah," his voice cracked. "I know."
Zelda sat up and turned to face him. "Promise me, Link. Promise you'll come back. That one day, we'll have another picnic together, just like this one. Whatever it takes. Promise me."
Link didn't know if he could promise such a thing. He might not even be allowed to by the goddesses. Maybe, like Maron, he'd never see Zelda again. At least, not this version. But, instead of any of that, somehow, what came out of his mouth was "Okay."
Zelda unexpectedly grabbed him and hugged him, her face on his shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you."
She never knew that he felt one of her tears hit his back.
Link shook his head. No. He wasn't dying here. He had to return - no matter what. And there was one way to do it. As Terrarian came flying at him, he pulled out one of his own weapons: the Golden Sword. He inhaled, trying to steady himself. This was going to be the worst experience of his life. But at least he wasn't going to die. He lowered the blade down to just below his kneecaps.
Terrarian was only a few feet away.
Swallowing his fear and nervousness, Link swung with all his power.
And he fell to the ground.
He screamed so loud, Terrarian covered his ears. His eyesight was hazy. Pain…his entire lower body was in pain. But he looked in front of him, and there was Terrarian, hovering over where he'd been standing, absolutely shocked. But while Link's legs had stayed in the sinkhole, the rest of him had escaped.
Blood…there was blood everywhere. It was gushing out from him, from where his legs had been seconds ago. The sand was as red as his tunic. It stained the sand as fast as it was absorbed into the sinkholes. There seemed to be no end to it - or the pain. Link was getting faint. He had to get to safety, quickly.
Terrarian stayed in the air for an extra few seconds. "You…you just…you cut your own legs off to escape death. That's the most hardcore thing I've ever seen! Too bad you're going to die anyway." He dove down.
Link raised his hand and cast Farore's Wind. He vanished from Terrarian's eyesight - and back into the cave.
…
This was bad.
Link drank up his last bit of Blue Potion. He coughed some up and his eyes grew watery - the pain was subsiding, but not without its final stabs. Ouch - poor choice of words.
Skin around his knees began to form. It grew around the point where he cut until it had completely healed over. Link would never walk again, but at least he wouldn't bleed to death. That's not to say he wouldn't die. He only had so long before Terrarian found this cave and him inside it. His bold move of cutting his own legs off wouldn't mean a thing if he didn't live through this, so he needed a strategy. That's what he was good at. Finding patterns and exploiting them.
"Okay, Link, think," he murmured to himself. Terrarian was fast and deadly with a sword - he'd love a close range fight, where he could get one powerful hit in and vanish. That's always what he did - stab and vanish, shoot and fly away, hit and run. With those stupid teleporting items he had plus his surprising speed, chances weren't good for Link to get in a proper killing blow. They were even worse now that he couldn't even walk. There was one good part - before, when he'd managed to get a few cuts in, Terrarian had needed a healing potion instantly. He was fast and hard to hit, but he wasn't durable. A couple of hits should be enough. "Maybe if I distracted him…" Link shook his head. He might be able to create a diversion with some explosives, and if he got his boomerang to come at a certain angle, Terrarian would be distracted for a split second - but those stupid potions were giving him superhuman senses. He'd sense Link way before a stab could be delivered. But they didn't seem to detect projectiles. He might get in a couple of arrows. But his Light Arrows didn't work on Terrarian for some reason, he couldn't hit him with the explosions from one of his Bomb Arrows in time, and his Silver Arrows did some damage - but he could just duck out after the first one, and his potions and healing factor would repair the wound over time. If Link wanted an effective arrow, he'd need to make one.
An idea formed.
Link spread out his remaining Silver and Explosive Arrows on the ground. Fifteen exploding and only eight silver ones - had he really used that much? Well, it should be enough. He pulled off the heads of each arrow and dumped out the explosive powder from his bomb arrows. He gathered all the powder in one neat pile, and placed the silver heads in another. He pulled out his Golden Sword and slowly, carefully, sliced each arrowhead into several pieces. He was done in a few minutes, having transformed the silver arrowheads into a pile of very sharp and very deadly scraps. He mixed the pile of scraps and the pile of powder, making sure the metal was even throughout, and stuffed the mixture down the shafts of the bomb arrows. He put in as much as he could in each arrow, stuffing them full - by the time he was done, he only had five filled arrows. Finally, to seal the deal, he fitted five of the spark-lighting arrowheads from the Bomb Arrows back on the shafts.
He now had five exceptionally deadly shrapnel arrows.
While he'd been working with his hands, he'd also been working with his head. He had a plan.
…
Terrarian stomped around the clearing, the thought of taking this time to strategize never even entering his head. He had to come out soon, right? Link had made it explicitly clear that they were to fight, so he wouldn't be gone forever. At some point he had to return-
He heard an explosion in the distance.
He grinned. "And there you are." He held out the Rod of Discord and teleported straight over to the explosion. He jumped and hovered with his wings as he peered around - and was almost hit by a ricocheting boomerang. He practically fell over backwards to dodge the thing, only to see some kind of arrow heading towards him. Oh, crap. He covered his face with his hands right before the arrow exploded. Shrapnel was sent everywhere, piercing his body in dozens of places. He gave out a cry of pain and fell to the ground - landing right on top of another shrapnel arrow. It exploded, coating his entire back in jagged pieces of metal. He was in horrible pain now, and flew up, wings struggling to lift him due to sheer pain. The boomerang had come flying back, and Terrarian immediately sent his Light Discs to knock it out of the sky…right before realizing it was carrying one of the new arrows. The Light Discs hit, and so did more metal. Seeing another falling from the sky headed for his forehead, he immediately summoned the Meowmere and hit it with a powerful swing - which caused it to explode all over his face. He was barely able to see out of one eye, but his potions did well - they forced him to notice Link behind him, ready to fire the last arrow. As he pulled back on the string, Terrarian created a wall of Lihzarhd Blocks in front of him so the arrow would hit them instead. But Link simply teleported past them and fired. The moment before the final arrow covered Terrarian in deadly shrapnel, Link teleported again, far behind Terrarian.
Terrarian twisted around and cried out in pain, shrapnel sticking out everywhere. He was bleeding all over the ground. He dropped to his knees. "Ah…hah. You're clever. Very resourceful. But you've underestimated me again." To Link's surprise, he lied down and rolled around, driving the shrapnel farther into his body, tearing through muscle, blood vessels, and bones. He got up and grit his teeth. His pain was…unbelievable. It was like his organs were on fire and someone was trying to put them out with wax-filled needles. He bit right through his bottom lip and screamed. But the shrapnel was inside his body - he'd survived. It'd been an hour - he'd be fine. A giant healing potion appeared in his hand and he drank it all up in one swallow. His blood cleared, his eyesight returned, his heart was beating, and his outer wounds, including his lip, were healed. He stood up, the pain having ceased. "You think you've won - but you didn't know something." He brought out his left arm and pointed to the small shield attached to his shoulder. "That shield prevents many things: stunning, poison, being turned to stone (that one was convenient a little while ago), being burned - and internal bleeding. So, as long as the shrapnel is inside my body, I won't bleed."
Link stood on his knees. Even without legs, he wasn't going to bow to this man. "I don't need to you bleed." He brought out his own left hand - encased with a metal glove. "I just need you to die." He cracked his wrist, and the glove activated.
And Terrarian couldn't move.
Terrarian's eyes widened. He was an idiot. How could he have forgotten that this guy had something that could control metal? And he'd pushed hundreds of metal scraps all throughout his body! This had been Link's plan all along. He couldn't walk. He couldn't talk. He could barely move an arm. He was totally, completely, dead.
"I didn't underestimate you," Link declared. "I just needed a good shot." His left hand carrying the Golden Sword rose and pointed straight ahead. "Now, I've got a perfect one." He pulled back with the Magnetism Glove and Terrarian came flying towards Link - and right towards the point of his blade.
Terrarian was afraid.
He didn't want to die.
He'd met so many people, saved the world so many times, found so many treasures, and had so many adventures, one might have said his time had come - that he'd done enough with his life to be fine with death. But there were adventures to be had yet. Mountains, in the distance of the grasslands, that he'd never climbed. Tortured souls to be found and released. Treasures to be dug up or looted. And people he'd never said goodbye to. People he'd never known how much he cared for until now. People he wanted to protect, to fight for, to know. To love.
To have a drink with on the village outskirts, watching the sunrise.
Whether it was because of his treasure, because of his friends, or both, Terrarian didn't know. But he didn't want to die.
He exhaled as he flew to Link.
And he fought.
Whether it was strength, willpower, or sheer dumb luck, his left arm somehow broke free of Link's hold just in time. The Meowmere materialized in his hand in an instant and a surprise swing knocked the Golden Sword out of Link's grasp. He sliced diagonally in a burst of cats and light - and severed Link's right arm. Link didn't even have time to gasp before his hold had completely vanished and Terrarian had impaled him completely through the stomach, point sticking out the other side.
"Sorry I messed up your shot, but I have something to live for."
Link was almost too shocked to speak. He coughed up blood. It dripped on the Meowmere's hilt. "Should have…"
"Yeah, you probably should have seen this coming," Terrarian affirmed. "All kinds of things have tried to kill me. You weren't going to be the one to do it."
"Should've…"
"Should've stayed in your own kingdom. Never have come out here."
"Should've…"
"Should've finished me when you had the chance. Now you'll never have it again. I'm sorry for you, but…this was necessary."
Link spat out a small pool of blood and stared into Terrarian's eyes. "Should've…gone…for the kill." He lifted his left hand, which now held the stopwatch.
Terrarian jolted back, shouted "No!" and the Meowmere vanished as a new weapon to destroy the watch was materializing in his hand.
But the weapon had only half-formed by the time Link clicked the "start" button.
Time stood still.
Link fell to the ground, blood pouring from where his arm used to be and where he'd been stabbed. He'd found the remaining piece and fixed the watch while he was in the cave. He didn't know for sure if it would work, so it was an emergency backup plan. One that he'd been very grateful he had created. He raised his hand and cast a Life Spell. That wasn't enough to fully heal him, but it gave him the energy to keep moving. He crawled over to his Golden Sword and spat out some more blood. A few drops got on the blade of the sword. Not important. He grabbed it with his remaining hand and rolled over to the still-frozen Terrarian. He swallowed some bile and said one last line. "I'm sorry to do this…but I have things to live for, too."
He stabbed Terrarian in the side and cut a straight line through, slicing his body in half. Terrarian exploded into body parts, revealing, among the pieces of his corpse, a huge amount of items and weapons.
-KO!-
Link found a Super Healing Potion and drank it instantly. His wounds closed, and skin formed around the stump of his right arm. Almost all of his weapons were broken or used up and he'd lost three limbs…but he'd won. The world was safe. Speaking of weapons and items, it didn't look like Terrarian would be using any of his anytime soon. Link nodded regally to the fighter's remains, laid his magic bag on the ground, and began grabbing at things.
Minutes later, loot collected, Link sat down and blinked a few times. The world had returned to normal time - and he was happy to be alive to see it. Well, most of him was. Now might be a good time to check in on the Sheikah Scientists and see how their ideas of robotic limbs had turned out. But he needed to see someone else first. A slight smile on his face, Link raised his hand, cast Farore's Wind, and vanished.
…
Ooh, that victory definitely cost Link an arm and a leg. Well, two legs.
Weapon to weapon, buff to buff, feat to feat, this was an impressive match, with a fair amount of advantages to go around. Unfortunately for Terrarian, however, Link's advantages were more numerous and certainly more impactful. Let's first take a look at experience.
Surprisingly, they've both fought plenty of beings of similar power. Both easily slayed enormous Wyverns and Dragons, both have defeated hundreds of different monsters of similar capabilities, both have defeated beings capable of moving small moons, and Terrarian killed a god more powerful than a guy more powerful than a guy more powerful than a guy who could wipe out an acre of forest with ease, while Link defeated a powered up version of a powered up version of a powered up version of a powered up version of a guy who could destroy an acre of forest with a whisper.
However, Link's 12+ generations of experience way outclasses Terrarian's one year or so. And Link's had over twenty teachers over the years, including previous incarnations, while Terrarian is mostly self-taught. And while Terrarian has never met a swordsman with as much skill as he possesses (though his skill is already less than Link's) or one with nearly as broad an arsenal, Link…has. Heck, Ganondorf's two most well-known features are his mastery of swordsmanship and his unlimited magical powers, so Link's no stranger to people with those capabilities. But besides him, Link's defeated his more powerful alter ego, Dark Link, several times, and frequently faces off against himself and all his own items via the Four Sword in training. He's fought lots of swordsmen and magicians and plenty of people who are both, while Terrarian's never even met anyone like Link before.
It is possible (doubtful, but possible) that the Meowmere is more powerful than even the Golden Sword, and it's true that the Pulse Bow and S.M.D.G (alongside Luminite Arrows and Bullets) are way better than the Sacred Bow or Nice Bow, and even the Mogma Mitts couldn't match up to the Luminite Pickaxe, but in virtually every other match-up, Link's weapons prove superior.
Terrarian's strongest usable explosive is the Dynamite (as the Holy Hand Grenade takes way too long to blow up for Link to NOT get out of the way), which destroys all blocks in a 14-foot radius. However, Link has used his normal bombs to blow open huge mountain gaps that stretch over 30 feet tall and nearly as long - about the same amount that a Holy Hand Grenade could destroy. And Link has far more powerful and far more versatile explosives in his toolbag. Terrarian may be able to throw five Light Discs at a time, but they can't travel nearly as far, perform nearly as many twists and turns, or hit nearly as many targets as either of Link's Boomerangs. And the Magical Boomerang one-shots pretty much everything it hits, while the Light Discs don't actually do that much damage. Not even mentioning the Gale Boomerang's tornadoes. Terrarian's buff potions stack the odds a little more in his favor…but not much. And compared to Link's armor, they're pretty pathetic. Plus, the Magnifying Lens nullifies the Invisibility Potion, and Link's Transformation Masks put the minor buffs and ability changes that Terrarian's shapeshifting can achieve to shame. As handy as the Static Hook is for exploration, the Double Clawshot beats it by…well, being the exact same thing, but with one on each arm, stretching way farther, and actually being able to damage and stun his foes. Terrarian could surround himself in Lihzahrd Blocks, but Farore's Wind and the Magic Cape lets Link easily get by that. And while Link can restore his health and magic ten times via Blue Potions, Terrarian can only restore about half his health every hour they're fighting - giving Link a firm advantage in that department. Link holds way more skill and versatility in his magical arsenal too - the Fire and Ice Rods alone surpass most of what magic Terrarian can throw at him, and his magic-rebounding swords, Reflect Spell, Whisp Ring, and Mirror Shield easily takes care of any magical weapons Terrarian might have, including the Last Prism and Lunar Flare. Oh, and speaking of magic, it's true that Terrarian has way more potions than Link to refill it - but it's also true that he goes through his supply of mana in seconds, way, way faster than Link, who can cast the Fire Rod's ultimate fireball of death attack almost a dozen times before running low on just one magic bar. Even while using the Mana Flower, if Terrarian's constantly using his magic weapons like the Lunar Flare and Last Prism, he'll still run out of potions much faster than Link (even if Link is also constantly using magic). And it takes him way too long to recover his mana without a potion for it to continue to play much of a factor. And, of course, the more quickly he uses his magic, the weaker it becomes. Oh, and while the Ankh Shield does prevent Terrarian from several debuffs Link might inflict on him, and would put out the flames if he caught on fire, it's important to note that it doesn't protect from fire-based, ice-based, electric-based, or poison-based attacks. He's still hurt from those types of weapons and abilities - he just doesn't remain burning alive, poisoned, frozen, or stunned. So Link's element-based weapons (like the Fire Rod) would still be very effective. And while the sentries of the Lunar Portal and Rainbow Crystal are powerful, not only has Link dealt with similar sentries many, many times before, but the fact that they're stationary means that he could always just…move out of the way. Terrarian would be able to place the sentries near Link over and over until he ran out of mana, but not only are Link's swords more than capable of destroying them (both the Master Sword and Four Sword have sealed portals and cut through things tougher than diamond), but, even if they weren't, all the sentries would really do is drag the battle on longer. Thanks to Link's many defenses, Terrarian still has to close in on Link if he wants to properly damage him, giving Link control over the battlefield. It's also because of this that the Solar Wings wouldn't have an enormous impact on the fight - plus, Link's also fought dozens of incredibly powerful flying fighters before. In fact, there's very little Terrarian can present that Link hasn't seen or dealt with before.
But there are a few things. The Terrarian Yo-Yo, for example, and the Rainbow Gun, Vampire Knives, Solar Eruption and Stardust Dragon are all things he wouldn't be used to defending against. But Link is adaptable beyond all else, and each of Terrarian's stranger weapons can be defended against and cut down. And while the Stardust Dragon, an astral being, cannot be harmed by any normal weapon or enemy, all three of Link's best swords can harm and even kill spiritual beings and ghosts, leaving little question that he could dispatch the dragon. And let's not forget all of Link's many unique weapons, such as the Long Hook, Cane of Pacci, Iron Gauntlets, and Magnetism Gloves, which are nothing like anything Terrarian has seen before, and it's unlikely he could defend well against them, since most of the weapons and attacks used against him are really just upgraded ones from earlier in his adventures. Oh, yeah, and the Magnetism Gloves completely ruin the chances a whole lot of his weapons have of being impactful in the fight. If they can pull giant steel balls that would weigh over 100 tons across the room in less than two seconds, they can certainly affect any of Terrarian's way smaller metallic weapons just as easily. And Terrarian has absolutely no defense against Link's time-stopping items and moves.
And Link's dodged attacks that move at the speed of sound before, so, adding in the factors of the Mirror Shield sending the Luminite Bullets and Arrows back and his many armor options, there's no reason to say that the four weapons Terrarian takes advantage in guarantees victory. Plus, while some of Terrarian's potions and weapons do inflict debuffs, not only does the Red Mail (and several other items we didn't mention for redundancy's sake) protect him from the fire-based ones, but just equipping the Whisp Ring would snuff out pretty much all others real fast. And let's be honest; Terrarian would at least struggle to keep up with one Link, so there's no way he could keep up with four of him. Yes, the Four Sword can be broken, but Terrarian almost never goes for the weapons when he's fighting armed monsters or bosses. He just dodges, lands a few hits, and retreats. There's little chance of him figuring out that he can stop the clones by breaking the Four Sword. Plus, even if he did figure it out, it's unlikely he'd be able to break the weapon anytime soon. I mean, the only time it's ever broken before was when the sorcerer Vaati (remember him? He's the one who destroyed a forest with a whisper) hit it with a full-powered blast of magic after it'd been rusting for well over a hundred years. And that was the Picori Blade, its weakest form - the Four Sword is undoubtedly much tougher. And, as a final nail in this arsenal's coffin, yes, anything dealing over 21 damage can hurt steel - minorly. The Destroyer has 120,000 health thanks to his being made of metal - and 22 damage would only do 1 damage to that alloy. 1 out of 120,000. Obviously, this makes the Terrarian's weapons not quite as impressive as you may believe. Still powerful, certainly - but likely not more so than Link's. In fact, let's do some math. The Destroyer releases several metal probes during his fight. So, let's say that slicing straight through this probe would, working in the defense and health total, take 315 damage. Since the Master Sword has shown to be able to do similar things, let's put that as its base damage output. Scaling appropriately, the Golden Sword and Four Sword would deal a bit under 1300 damage - more than enough to kill the Terrarian in one hit, and far more damage than any of Terrarian's weapons could do. Estimating Link being able to slice three times per second, his DPS with the Golden Sword alone would be just under 3800. In comparison, Terrarian's highest damage output would be with the Last Prism, which, if he caught Link in a beam without any kind of protection (which is incredible unlikely) has a DPS of 3600. And it also puts quite a few of Link's weapons ahead of Terrarian's; the Skull Hammer broke a crown stronger than steel, so let's put its damage as the same, 315. In comparison, the Solar Flare Hamaxe only deals 60. And Link's Magical Boomerang has also obliterated steel foes before, so if we again take that as a base, it deals 315 damage. Even if all five of the Light Discs hit a foe at once, that's only 285 damage. And the Silver Arrows actually have a higher DPS than the S.D.M.G., since the S.D.M.G.'s DPS with Luminite Bullets is 1188, while, considering the Silver Arrows one-shotted a guy who was literally a giant steel ball, we can underestimate them to be, again, 315 damage, and, since he can shoot four arrows a second, that's 1260. Though it should be noted that it'd be much easier to dodge those arrows than the bullets. And none of this was counting any of Link's magical boosts, like the Red Ring, or his transformations of Fierce Deity Link or the Triforce of Power, all of which absolutely blow these numbers out of the water. But, as we've shown, Link doesn't even need the few advantages we just gave him this paragraph to have the superior arsenal.
Plus, Link has a massive physical advantage. Even with a wooden axe, Terrarian takes several seconds to chop down a small tree, while Link can do so with a single punch. And while Terrarian can effortlessly run around while wearing 3,000 pounds of Platinum Armor, Link's capable of easily tossing around a giant ball and chain that, compared to his height (170 cm in Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess's Link is taller, but let's lowball it), should weigh over 10,000 pounds. And with their strength boosters, even with all of his weapons and accessories boosted and with the help of armor and potions, Terrarian's strength is only ever doubled at most, putting his lifting and wielding strength at 6,120 pounds, while Link lifted a granite pillar that would weigh over 466,000 pounds. Not to mention that Link has a ring that doubles his strength and striking power. When it comes to speed, surprisingly, both have similar reaction times, easily dodging magical lightning and dozens of lasers. But Link takes a definite advantage in travel speed. Even with his enhancements, Terrarian's running speed is about 26 MPH. But Link can run 30 MPH without breaking a sweat. Yes, with wings, Terrarian's speed is amped up to 57 MPH, with the boots his top speed is 34 MPH, his dash ability moves at 52 MPH, and the maximum UFO Mount speed is 58 MPH, but with Bunny Hood, Link can move twice as fast as he normally can and still use all his weapons. Er, that's 60 MPH, the average speed of a car moving down the highway. And that's not mentioning the Pegasus Boots, which quadruples his speed to reach well over 100 MPH. And the difference in durability is just stupid - though not unfairly so. Terrarian has always been made of glass compared to the rest of his world. He'll always die in just a few hits. Despite this, he can take two explosions that blow a huge hole in the side of a mountain before dying via Dynamite. Link can do this too via Bombs. Except, ignoring that they've proven more powerful, it takes twenty to kill him, rather than two. And with items and armor, Terrarian only gets an extra bit of Health and enough defense to survive one more blast, while Link gets his durability quadrupled and then doubled (via Shield Spell). That puts his durability levels at almost sixty times that of Terrarian's. Yes, by overestimating the intended effect of the Dynamite to also include cubic feet and it being able to blow up things harder than steel, it is possible to hype up Terrarian's durability to being able to take several tons of TNT - more than enough to destroy a real-world two-story house. But if we want to use overestimations or outliers, there's the time Link blew up a grenade inside a massive storeroom filled with thousands of grenades. The resulting explosion leveled a mountain, but even though Link was at the center of the blast, he was totally fine. So, since both of these feats are well beyond what either should normally be capable of (and it puts Link's durability several thousand times higher than Terrarian's), let's go back to reality, where Link still somehow has sixty times the durability that Terrarian does. Oh, and while the overestimation puts Terrarian's durability at over 5 tons of TNT, Fierce Deity Link can deliver a force of over 250 tons of TNT with one slice. So, yeah.
However, Link's huge physical advantage doesn't actually mean anything when faced up against a foe like Terrarian. Terrarian's fighting style means that, by repeating a pattern of attack consistently, he's capable of beating pretty much any physically superior foe. Heck, by comparing Link's bombs to the dynamite (estimating them to deal the same amount in Terraria damage) eight of the bosses he's faced have just as much health as Link or even more. The Moon Lord alone has a total of over 200,000 Health, compared to Link's 40,000 with the Red Mail and Shield Spell activated. So, why should this be different? Why should Link succeed where gods have failed?
Well, maybe if those gods had fought and strategized like Link does, they might have stood a chance.
Link is an incredible strategist, normally capable of pulling off a victory even if there's only one possible way to do so - providing that his enemy gives him enough time to figure it out. Given time, Link can figure out the patterns of any opponent, their capabilities, and exactly what he must do to stop them. That's why the only times he's been defeated are when he was unexpectedly rushed, given almost no time to prepare, or being suddenly swarmed while protecting someone else. When he does have time, he's always prevailed. Normally, he can buy time with his many spells and armor options…but in this fight he didn't even need to do that, because Terrarian's fighting style plays perfectly into Link's hands. Terrarian is a hit-and-run fighter, always getting in minor blows before ducking out of the way of anything that could kill him. He reuses the same patterns, over and over, dealing minimal damage, but damage nonetheless. He's always fought against beings that fit into this mold. The Dungeon Guardian may be able to kill him in one hit and may take twenty thousand hits to kill, but he's also predictable. Terrarian just has to keep in the same pattern for hours until he finally falls. This works against almost every foe in his world - but unfortunately for him, this kind of fighter grants Link every opportunity he wants to both form a strategy and enact it. The minimal damage alongside Link's large healthpool gives him plenty of time, and the fact that Terrarian uses incredibly simple patterns just guarantees Link has something to exploit.
To sum it up, Link's entire perspective on fighting is shaped around exploiting an enemy's repeating patterns, and Terrarian's entire perspective on fighting is based on using repeating patterns to deal minimal damage and kill his foe over time. Since Link is capable of recognizing these patterns easily and has always successfully adapted to and exploited such patterns in the past, there's no reason he couldn't here. And, thanks to Terrarian's low health, all it would take is a couple good hits to bring him down. Add to that Link's advantages in arsenal, skill, experience, and all physical abilities, and it was only a matter of time before he achieved victory. And Terrarian is known for giving his opponents plenty of time.
The Link to Terrarian's failure was in his previous successes.
The winner is Link.
…
Look guys, after this whole thing and how much time and research I put into it, I wanted something simple. Maybe not easy, but something where both characters didn't have obscene arsenals and fighting styles and things that take a lot of work to properly represent in a 9,000 word battle. But, given that the next one is the "Season Finale," so to speak, it's only right that I do the battle I made this whole story for. The one I've been gradually figuring out over the past two years. These combatants have fought before, but many things have happened since then, and this time, we'll include just about everything we can.
NEXT TIME, ON THE SEASON FINALE…
A red plumber runs toward a blue hedgehog, readying a powerful punch.
VS.
A blue hedgehog runs toward a red plumber, readying a powerful kick.
(Mario vs. Sonic)
Get ready, folks. It's going to be epic.