Raska

RASKA

Although we’d only see the one animated version of the series, the comics and manga for the Zelda series would continue, still running strong to this very day. Ran Maru would not return past the first two games, but Ataru Cagiva would take up the mantle with his own adaptation of A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening. In it, Link would have a childhood friend and sparring buddy trained in the martial arts.

This is Raska, the son of a local martial artist and Link’s neighbor. When Link sets out on his quest and is hunted by the kingdom’s soldiers under Agahnim’s orders, Raska and his father protect Link, his father pushing him to join Link as a companion on his journey.

As a fighter, Raska will be fast and nimble due to his martial arts training. His moveset will pull from all of the martial arts demonstrated by himself and his father, even roping in his father for a few attacks here and there.

Likelihood rating: Non-game.

Character Sheet: Raska

RASKA

Alright, so we did have one more semi-big character list in us. Let's get into it! This is all characters I could pull out originating from the Legend of Zelda manga, or were given just enough of a boost by the manga to make it into our rankings. They are:

1. Maple

2. Jolene

3. Ricky

4. Captain Stalfos

5. Manga Link

6. Riruto

7. Manga Zelda

8. Raska

9. Tou

10. Ghanti

11. Gonza

12. Kala

13. Captain Arjuna

14. Sir Raven

15. Biri

16. Com

17. Gump

18. Shemlon

19. Rouro

20. Ganon's Minion

21. Ganon's Heart

22. Ganos

23. Haggis

The next character on our docket is Raska, an original character to Cagiva's adaptation of A Link to the Past. In it, Raska is a childhood friend/rival to Link, constantly competing against him in their training. When Link becomes wanted under the orders of Agahnim, Raska sticks by his side and becomes a partner on his adventure to find the Master Sword and into the Dark World. Though a few too many chapters focused on them being pigheaded about their rivalry, theirs was a friendship and dynamic I ultimately enjoyed.

As opposed to Link's training in sword and shield, Raska is purely a martial artist, using a number of moves taught to him by his father Tou. These include an open-hand palm thrust, a quick jab, a two-palm strike, throwing spikes he uses as projectiles, and a thrust with his knee. He also used a shield at one point and thrust it forward as a battering weapon. He could also generally jump pretty high.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Palm Thrust

He will hold his hand out open-handed and thrust it forward, striking his opponents hard in the chest and knocking them backwards.

Side B: Throwing Spikes

He will pull out a few of the spikes he keeps as projectiles and throw them forward, doling out damage on those they hit.

Up B: Martial Arts Leap

He will backflip upwards, using his strong legs to get up above the competition.

Down B: Shield Bash

He will pull out the shield he uses at one point and bash forward with it, protecting himself from damage and knocking foes aside.

Final Smash: Father and Son

He will call in his father, Tou, and the pair of them will double team an opponent in a quick animation.

Entrance: He will drop to the ground and take up a battle-ready stance.

Taunts: Up, he will take up a crane pose for a moment. Side, he will put his hands on his hips and look smug. Down, he will crouch low as if waiting to strike.

Thanks for reading! Next up, his father, who will act as an echo fighter.

The Legend of Zelda (Cagiva)

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA (CAGIVA)

Ah, now this is more like it. If you ever want just a quick fun read with good characters and story, Cagiva Ataru's adaptations of A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening are the manga for you. While they're not quite the quality of the Himekawa manga that we'll talk about later, these are still a really good time. It ran starting in 1995, generally following the plot of both games, though with a few key differences.

Cagiva's A Link to the Past adaptation follows a trio of companions as they fight against the forces of Ganon and Agahnim, venturing into the Dark World to save Zelda and the land of Hyrule. These three are Link, his best friend and martial artist Raska, and Captain Arjuna, leader of the royal guard and Kakashi-esque mentor to the two of them. Link is pretty standard, training in using a sword and shield and all the other tools of the game, while Raska uses more physical martial arts moves, including a palm thrust, knee attack, jab, two-palm strike, a shield thrust, and throwing spikes used as projectiles. Captain Arjuna, while constantly fighting alongside the boys, never seems to get any clear focus on any of his attacks outside of basic sword strikes, the artwork instead preferring to show what the boys are doing. Luckily, though, he is the leader of the Hylian Soldiers, and we might be able to do something with that.

We have a few other supporting characters here, such as Princess Zelda herself, a damsel in distress for most of the plot; Link's Uncle, who straight up died in this version of the story; Kanika, a scientist and researcher trapped in the dark world who becomes a companion and almost traitor to our heroes at one point. Sadly, he is a very distinctly inactive character, so not much there. And we have Tou, Raska's father, who taught him everything he knows and thus knows all of it too. From there, we have Agahnim and Ganon as the villains, but they're pretty standard to the game.

Cagiva's version of Link's Awakening sticks much closer to the source, with barely any original characters. We see Link decide to leave home for a while, leaving Raska and Arjuna behind, and set out to sea. He ends up on Koholint Island and develops a rather sweet romance with Marin, making him struggle with the choice to wake the Wind Fish or not. There is a couple of new characters, like Felicia the fairy, and Master Drona, who punches and throws his sword, but that's about it.

Anyway, that's about it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Manga Link: slingshot, sword, shield, bow, boomerang, bombs, magic wand, Watto, become a fairy, healing magic, thunder, fly on shield, raft, Link to the Past-related stuff

Zelda: club, rope, sword, flute, spells, transform, sea monster, magic

Biri: sword, torches, pitchforks, battering rams

Raska: palm thrust, knee, jab, two-palm strike, shield thrust, throwing spikes

Captain Arjuna: Hylian Soldier moveset

Marin

Link's Uncle: sword

Kanika

Tou: same as Raska

Couscous: spells, claw, bite

Birina

Gump: trained Link, sword, training staff, flip

Shemlon: forge, enchant swords, sword, reflect

Ganon/Ganon's Minion: burn, magic blast, disappear, fly, shock, storm, teleport, shapeshift, Ganon's hand

Agahnim

Stages:

Ganon's Statue

Thanks for reading! Next up, the most consistent mangaka of the bunch, the works of Himekawa Akira!