Ilink

Ilink

Ilink is a Het ship between Link and Ilia in The Legend of Zelda series.

Canon
Link and Ilia are childhood friends who grew up together in Ordon Village. Ilia has always been rather protective of Link as well as his horse Epona whom she is also very fond of. She can often be found washing her in the Ordon Spring while Link would usually approach them with a smile. One day, Ilia noticed an injury on Epona's leg and tried to prevent Link from leaving with her. However, she later learned that he was saving Talo and decided to let him go after making him promise to never go out of his league. Unfortunately, a group of Bulblins then arrive and capture her.

Link later picks up Ilia's scent in the Lanayru Province and manages to track it all the way to Hyrule Castle Town where she is staying at Telma's bar. When Link is finally reunited with Ilia, she does not recognize him and Telma reveals that she has amnesia. He helps her and Telma get a sick Zora to Kakariko Village and she thanks him for his kindness. Ilia then stays there in hopes of recovering her memory. Link can visit her whenever he wants to and she will want to know about Epona.

Link later goes to the Lakebed Temple in search of the final Fused Shadow. Lanayru gives him a vision of the past where he sees Ilia. They initially start out as friends during the story but eventually fight over the Triforce. Ilia attempts to stab Link so he defeats her in self-defense. At the end, he sees a bunch of Ilias falling. Much later, Link manages to restore Ilia's memory and she gives him a Horse Call so that he can call Epona from anywhere.

Fanon
Ilink has a decent amount of popularity in the Zelda fandom. It is not as popular as Zelink or Midlink but is one of the more popular ships in Twilight Princess. Since Ilia seems to have some similarities to Saria, some ship Ilink as a parallel to Salink. Many feel that a romance is heavily implied as Link often smiles whenever he sees Ilia while Ilia is very protective of Link.

Trivia

 * Ilia seems to have many similarities to Saria from Ocarina of Time who is also implied to be a potential love interest for Link.