Link Cornell

Link Cornell is the deuteragonist (second protagonist) of Spylights. He is a boy from Earth who takes Navi in when she arrives from Taurus. Although he is extremely indifferent to Navi’s...fascinating world, he soon grows to appreciate her and the craziness that comes with living with a super spy from another planet. While most 17 year olds lack the ability to handle the types of situations Link and Navi are placed in, neither of them are ordinary teenagers. A reality that is soon thrust upon Link that sets his entire world spinning in an opposite direction.

History
Born and raised in the sleepy town of Willow Creek, Link's life was quite typical for people in the area. He always had a loving family who was very close with one another. Link's very reserved nature never meant that he had many friends growing up. His only true friend was his older sister, Hannah, whom Link admires very much. Hannah was the one who introduced him to outer space and from and early age, Link was drawn to the stars. Although Link had a very stable home life, he struggled with self esteem issues and was diagnosed with depression not long after Hannah left for university.

Link is a very private person, often preferring to be alone and keep to himself. The one consistent person other than Hannah in his life is Rose, his longtime crush. However, because of Link's lack of confidence, he has never been able to exchange more than a few words with her and has doomed himself to a life of loving her from afar. Link is not a very open person and is not somebody who adjusts to change very well. Nevertheless, he keeps a good head on his shoulders and is always absolutely sure about one thing: he is a good person with a kind heart.

Personality
At the start of the series, Link is relatively shy, reserved, and tends to keep to himself most of the time. He’s a bit of a hopeless romantic though he would never admit that out loud. Despite his quiet nature, Link has a big heart and has a deep care for all those he holds dear. He’s very family oriented and attached to his older sister Hannah, who is in college and studying abroad in Paris, France. When Navi comes into his life, naturally, Link wanted to keep his distance from the crazy Navi Callisto. Seeing her as complete opposite his personality (because she is), he comes off very cold to her. But Navi being the determined teenager she is, saw Link as a true friend right away and spared no time introducing him to her world. Afterwards, Link put his full trust in Navi and in turn, gradually became a more confident and well rounded person. His often rigid and closed off way of speaking turned to wit and goofiness the more and more he was able to relax.

Although he is able to let his guard down after Navi enters his life, he still kept a very serious and cautious attitude towards particularly dangerous missions. He’s a smart person with sharp instincts. Instincts that allow him to catch when something is wrong almost instantly. However, despite this, his one fatal flaw is his obliviousness. Link does what he can to make sure everyone he cares about is comfortable, even if he is not always in the best place. He has a tendency to panic and his insecurity can quickly turn a good day into a bad one. Link is prone to depression, having fallen into a rather serious one around the time his sister, his only support system during that time, left for school. Nonetheless though, Link remains a seemingly perfect best friend. Caring, kind, always willing to help, and ready at any given moment to cross the universe to save the people he loves, it’s very easy to see why Navi got attached so quickly because frankly, anyone would too.

Appearance
Link is a 17 year old boy who stands about half a head taller than Navi. He has a slender build for a teenager though as he begins working with Navi, his build will become a bit more athletic looking. He has blond hair that he styles in a swoop on the top of his head. It’s usually drawn with around four or five strands, growing away from his head. He has vibrant blue eyes that Navi has described as always having a “worried yet curious look” to them. He is often described by the other characters as a relatively cute boy. It’s clear though that Link was not meant to be a prince charming type of handsome the way Aries is. Navi notes a few times throughout the series that Link smells like laundry detergent and what she imagines safety to smell like.

Link’s outfits do not change like Navi’s do. Instead he pretty much wears the same dark blue hoodie and jeans with navy Converse through the whole series. He wears the hoodie so often that many of the enemies that Link and Navi face throughout the series nickname him “The Boy In the Hoodie”. When he’s afraid or embarrassed, or sad, he’ll often pull his hood over his head to hide his face. At the start of the series, he frequently places his hands in his pockets, which is usually a symbol of his insecurity. Underneath his signature hoodie, he wears a plain gray T-shirt.

While him and Navi are attending Aries and Virgo's birthday ball, Link wears a gray suit with a color changing tie that Navi gave to him. The tie changes color depending on Link's emotions. He wears a white button up shirt underneath his suit.

Navi Callisto
Probably the most important relationship in the entire show, is Link and Navi’s. Destined to be best friends since birth, when these two cross paths, they become inseparable. Navi, a very bold and influential soul, is obviously the exact opposite of Link who prefers everything to be more held back. At first, Link wants nothing to do with her, keeping her at arm’s length. However, determined and feisty Navi Callisto stopped at...literally nothing until the best friendship was returned. Over the first few episodes, Link was having trouble adjusting to the type of trouble Navi gets herself into. At the conclusion of the third episode though, Link instinctively gives Navi a big hug when she returns to him safely. From that point on, their friendship grew stronger by the episode. Navi comforts Link after Rose rejects him, providing him with encouragement and confidence. When Aries returns, Link is openly very protective of her and tries to keep her from him as much as possible. He has been shown to harbor some jealousy towards the prince because of his long history with Navi though it is unknown whether that envy also stems from someplace else. It is clear that Link deeply appreciates Navi's patience with him as well as her ability to bring him out of his shell in unexpected ways. The confidence she brings to his life is unmatched by anything he's ever experienced before. Thus, Link becomes certain that he wants Navi in his life for as long as he possibly can. But with a spirit like Navi's, her restlessness can have unexpected consequences that even Link might not be prepared for when they hit.

Celeste
Although Link was freaked out by Celeste at first, he eventually comes to recognize how intelligent and loyal she is. Like Navi, Link often goes to Celeste for advice. Since she is really the only other being on Earth that understands Navi’s frustrating mannerisms, he trusts Celeste and always appreciates the help she offers. Celeste sees Link as a genuine person who is inherently kind, a rare find in a universe full of mystery. She believes that Link is good for Navi, and is likely to help even her out as they spend more time together. The two are very similar in temperament, making them the perfect companions for Navi. Link finds a lot of comfort in Celeste's level-headedness and her ability to deter Navi from doing certain things, especially when nobody else can.

Because of this, Link will turn to Celeste for advice on how to deal with Navi or otherwise look to her for support in particularly stressful Navi-related situations. There is an unspoken comradery between the two of them that is likely to grow stronger as time goes on due to their similar way of thinking. Link is grateful to have Celeste's trust and guidance and comes to see her as his guide cat as well.

Aries
Being Navi’s best friend, naturally, Aries hates his guts. Their first meeting is awkward and knee deep in angry tension. Aries sees Link as a threat to his and Navi’s “love” and therefore tries to do everything in his power to get him out of the way. Seeing the potential danger, Navi protects Link from Aries, something Link gladly accepts. Link as well, tries to keep Aries away from Navi although not by force. In order to separate himself from the prince, Link gives Navi the freedom to decide how she wants her relationship with Aries to turn out, though it is difficult for him to abide by this.

Link knows that Aries is everything he isn’t. A rich, handsome prince who can give Navi everything she ever wants. But Link’s heart of gold makes him, in Navi’s eyes, far beyond what Aries could ever be. Despite this, Link can tell that Aries' dislike for him is intense and laced with hostility. Thus, Link keeps his distance, not wanting to stir anything up in Aries that could lead to rash decisions or even violence. Secretly though, Link hopes that someday, maybe, the two could approach friendship, albeit a fragile one. Something that Aries would never admit to secretly wanting as well.

Rose
Rose, while relatively uninfluential in the first season, she’s introduced as Link’s crush from kindergarten. However, Link’s insecure and shy nature keep him from ever saying a word about it to her. Rose is perfect for Link, or so it seems at first. She’s exactly like him, soft spoken, kind, gentle, and caring. In the fifth episode of the first season, Link gets excited when Rose begins talking to him more frequently, believing that she finally returns his affections. He quickly discovers though that Rose was only intending to get closer to him so that she could get to know Navi more. Link, heartbroken over this, needs Navi’s guidance to keep him going.

Nevertheless, much to Navi's surprise as well as Link's, Rose expresses regret at treating Link like a bridge to get to Navi and the two seemingly reconcile. Things have appeared to return to normal between them, at least from Link's perspective. Little does he know, however, that for the first time, Rose sees him as more than just the cute, shy boy who admires her from afar. But that's for a little bit later on.

Trivia

 * The original voice actors for Spylights served mostly as placeholders until an actual casting call could be held. This is why Link's voice actor changes in episode 3 when the final actors were decided upon.
 * Link's color scheme is meant to be the opposite of Navi giving them more visual appeal as well as representing how different the two of them are.
 * Link has a slight natural slouch which is a nod to his voice actor Quinn who also has a slight slouch according to Amy.