Revalink

Revalink is the slash ship between Revali and Link from the The Legend of Zelda fandom.

Canon
Link and Revali are both Champions and teammates. Both tasked with protecting the Kingdom of Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. Revali has a one-sided rivalry with Link, resentful of his status as ‘Chosen Hero.’

When Revali first met Link, he seemed to dislike him. In the first memory cutscene, titled Subdued Ceremony, Revali expresses his dislike towards Princess Zelda’s appointed knight. It is later revealed that the reason for Revali’s grudge and one-sided rivalry towards Link is because he earned his position as a Champion by being a skilled archer while Link was merely chosen by The Master Sword.

In the second memory cutscene; Revali’s Flap, Revali shows off his ability, Revali’s Gale to Link in an attempt to show off his skills. He also taunts Link in an attempt to ‘Settle it one-on-one’ but to no avail. When he realises that his attempts to antagonise Link were futile, he flies back up to Divine Beast Vah Medoh, sarcastically wishing Link good luck in defeating Ganon. While in the fifteenth memory cutscene titled Return of Calamity Ganon, Link and Revali along with the other Champions and Zelda witness the reawakening of Calamity Ganon. After witnessing Ganon return, Revali, with the other Champions go to their Divine Beasts to fight The Calamity, Unfortunately, as he arrives at his Divine Beast, he fights and is killed by Windblight Ganon. Link fatally injured and is put into the Shrine of Resurrection to heal.

100 years later, Link is fully healed and wakes up from the Slumber of Resurrectionm deprived of his memories of Revali and the other Champions a century ago. Sometime after leaving the Shrine of Resurrection, Link arrives at Divine Beast Vah Medoh, which is now under the control of Ganon. While exploring through the Divine Beast, Revali’s spirit guides Link as he reactivates the terminals of the Divine Beasts. After Link has activated all five terminals, he heads to Vah Medoh’s main control unit where he attempts to reactivate the Divine Beast but is interrupted by Windblight Ganon. Revali explains to Link that it’s the thing that killed him 100 years ago and asks Link to avenge him. During the fight, Revali provides Link with advice on how to beat the Blight Ganon. He shows worry and concern if Link gets hurt.

After the battle and Windblight is defeated, Link reunites with Revali who is now a spirit. He congratulates Link and gives him his power named Revali’s Gale. After that, he tells Link that his journey is far from finished and that the Princess was waiting for a long time. When Link goes to face Calamity Ganon; Revali, along with the other Champions, unleash a full-force attack on Ganon, Bringing his health down to half.

Fanon
There are many speculations that the fans have that link to the theory that Revali had romantic feelings for Link. For example in the cutscene Revali’s Flap, Revali mentions how his Gale was ‘impressive.’ This could suggest that Revali was trying to impress Link.

Another observation is that within the Flight Range, the place where Revali is assumed to have spent most of his time prior to becoming a Champion, has two hammock beds. It is assumed by this that Revali wanted to one day settle down with someone who he loved (assumed to be Link). Another detail that was spotted was the Shrine Quest titled The Ancient Rito Song. It consisted of Link having to position himself looking at Rito Village so the hole in the pillar is shaped like a heart and waiting for the sun to shine through the hole and light a fire on the pedestal there. The heart shape could be considered symbolism for Revali’s hidden feelings for Link as the heart shape is also in the same location in which Vah Medoh, Revali’s Divine Beast perches.

Revalink has a running joke that Revali is a ‘tsundere.’ A tsundere is a trope of anime character who act angry, resentful and rude towards a character (usually the main protagonist) however they also have a soft interior and care deeply for the protagonist and usually have feelings for them. Because of this, the fans often refer to Revali as ‘tsundere bird’.

Fandom
FAN FICTION