Remember the time when Link turned into Ganon in The Legend of Zelda?

Before Link saved Hyrule from a mysterious spread of rot and other evil in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomhe had a much simpler mission: Kiss Zelda.

Don’t remember that part of the games? That’s because it’s not part of Nintendo’s body of work. Kissing Zelda was Link’s driving force in the 1980s DiC Entertainment cartoon The Legend of Zeldaand it was repurposed for a Valiant Comics comic book in the early ’90s — long before Nintendo started getting much stricter about how its franchises were portrayed.

American networks at that time were always looking for things to adapt into cartoons. Nintendo’s properties were ready for that: games like The Legend of Zelda And Zelda II: Link’s Adventure have storylines, but they are relatively simple, both graphically and narratively. In other words, there are a lot of gaps to fill in and several plot points to work out, which will (hopefully) end in a kiss.

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

The Legend of Zelda comic book is just part of it Valiant’s Nintendo Comics System Collectionon which comics were based Super Mario Bros. And Captain N: the game master, a cartoon that merged several Nintendo characters. Like the cartoon created by DiC, Valiant’s The Legend of Zelda was much crazier than the franchise we know today – Link, Zelda, and a new fairy named Miff were up to a ton of hijinks. Here are a few of our favorite bizarre moments from the short run.

Hyrule Rebellion

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

In ‘Trust Me’, the second story in The Legend of Zelda‘s second issue (it has two stories just like the rest of the issues), Ganon visits the town of Saria (a location introduced in Link’s adventurenot to be confused with the character from Ocarina of Time) to talk about the franchise’s iconic duo. The town soon recognizes the shadowy hooded figure as the Prince of Darkness; Ganon grabs a little boy and puts him on his knee to avoid suspicion, then convinces the village that Link is actually the evil villain. Pointing over the barren land of the village, he asks: What have Zelda and Link done to help you with that? Touche, Ganon. He uses his magic to make an apple tree sprout in an attempt to bribe the villagers – and it works. The villagers try to drive Zelda and Link away, and when they don’t leave, Ganon convinces the angry mob to capture them. The little boy hesitates to hand over the Master Sword Link had dropped, and Ganon turns on him – and the boy is eventually rescued by Zelda. The city switches back to Team Zelda and Link, who, we discover, did try to help the city by building a dam to divert water to the fields. It is the dam that breaks and eventually washes away Ganon.

Link turns into Ganon

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

In the two-part third issue, Link and Zelda get their hands on the Triforce of Power, adding to the Triforce of Wisdom that Zelda already possesses. Corrupted by the force, Link slowly transforms more and more into a grotesque version of the infamous Ganon, pig’s head and all. A bunch of beasts commit to serve Link as the Triforce of Power holder. When Link attacks Zelda to get the Triforce of Wisdom, the Triforce of Courage transfers from Link’s heart to hers, protecting her from the spell. Link sees his reflection and realizes he has Ganon’s face. He throws the Triforce of Power into a well. Bye!

(Amidst all this, Zelda also randomly says she loves Link.)

A parental blow

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

The Legend of Zelda‘s fifth issue opens with a thud as Link travels home to Calatia to visit his parents.

Let me pause before we continue. Catalia is not mentioned anywhere in the games and Link’s parents have been completely absent, save for a few brief mentions in Ocarina of Time. It’s a shock to look back at these comics to see Link’s dad (Arn) punch Link in the face immediately upon returning home – You are not my son! Cruel.

If you read on, you’ll find out is one reason: an evil man who worked for Ganon disguised himself as Link and took Catalia’s queen hostage. Everyone in Link’s hometown, including his parents, thinks he has turned evil. In the end, everyone sees past the ruse, only for Link to save the day again. The twist here is that the evil Link challenges real Link to a fight to the death, and Link accepts. (He also mysteriously misses his Triforce, but more on that below.) Of course, Link wins.

The Day of the Triforce

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

The second story arc in the fifth issue is called “The Day of the Triforce”, which outlines the one day of the year when all three Triforces disappear for the day. Where are they going? To the beach to sip margaritas. (I made that last part up. There’s no explanation for the event, or where the Triforces go.)

This happens to be why Link has to fight the life and death battle without help from a Triforce. The Queen, held hostage in the final issue, chooses Link as her champion in a battle with fake Link – and they must fight until one remains. Aside from this nifty premise, this storyline is actually pretty kickass. Where’s Zelda? A healer of the aforementioned Saria comes looking for Link to save her city, but Link is not there. (See above.) Zelda instead goes to Saria, also without her Triforce powers, to save the city – and she does. She posts on a wall and shoots the bad guys with her bow before taking on Ganon herself.

Tips for consumers

There are short strips at the end of each The Legend of Zelda problem, completely different from any story just told. They’re bizarre and out of context, the funniest of which is a mock ad for the Hyrule Better Business Bureau. Get warranty!

Image: George Caragonne/Valiant Comics

If we’ve piqued your interest, read the rest The Legend of Zelda comic books (and Valiant’s other Nintendo comics) at Archive.org.