Howard Link

Howard Link is a member of the Black Order assigned to keep an eye on Allen Walker. He's also very skilled at making delicious pastries.

Appearance
Link is a short man with shoulder blade long, blond hair fixed into a braid, he has forked eyebrows and brown eyes. He mostly wears official Black Order's uniform.

Personality
Link's personality is serious and strict, though he is not nearly as harsh or cold as his boss, Malcolm C. Levrier. Link has displayed a willingness to protect others and a slight sense of camaraderie as evident by his willingness to carry Allen Walker to the infirmary after his battle with the Level 4 Akuma. He is extremely loyal to Levrier and as such treats him with the utmost respect and honours such as saluting him upon his departure from Headquarters. Link is also an intellectual and skilled at chess as displayed when he defeats the ghost of a chess champion in order to retrieve an Innocence fragment during a mission with Allen, Kanda, and Miranda.

History
Howard Link is an inspector sent to Headquarters, although he appears to be more of Levrier's administrative assistant. He was assigned to keep watch over Allen and follows him everywhere. Link is part of the special combat division of Central's execution squad referred to as CROW, whose members are said to be trained from a young age. He is armed with a pair of retractable wrist blades (also called switchblades) hidden under his sleeves  and can use binding techniques that weigh a target down. In addition to this he knows many spells with which to combat Akuma, though they are not nearly as effective as the Anti-Akuma Weapons wielded by Exorcists. In spite of this, Link can hold his own against Akuma for a brief period of time.

Link's relationship with Allen is a bit strained at times, but they appear to get along well and don't bicker between themselves. Link won Allen over early by presenting him with a pie upon introduction. While Allen doesn't appreciate the amount of distrust surrounding him, he does not appear to hold a grudge against Link and even shows concern for his well-being after he is transformed into a doll in the orphanage arc.

After Timothy destroyed the Level 2 Akuma that had transformed him, Link returned to his human form and helped ward off the other Akumas until a member of Crow named Madarao appeared and defeated the Level 3, leaving the Level 4 to Allen and Kanda. Link expressed surprise and confusion at the depth of Madarao's abilities, indicating that he probably had no idea Crow members were capable of such feats. Upon returning to Headquarters, he returns to his duty of shadowing Allen even when he is hindered by Lenalee falling asleep on the bed next to the recovering Allen. He claims that he was being a gentleman and didn't wish to walk in on a young lady in such a compromising position. When Allen shuts him out to try to speak in private with Lenalee, he threatens to tell Komui that the two are alone behind a locked door - prompting Allen to quickly let him in. Apparently, he was unaware of the conversion of CROW members into Half-Akumas as evident by his shock at the revelation of this fact.

Trivia



 * Neither "Howard" nor "Link" are related by any means to German appellation - it's possibility that "Howard Link" is, in reality, an alias given to him as a member of CROW (or it's simply Katsura Hoshino's mistake in that matter)
 * it's revealed that Howard Link wears glasses - however it's unknown what kind of defect his sight has.
 * On the right corner of one of Hoshino's sketches can be seen Link, Madarao, Tevak and Tokusa in their younger age ; Kiredori and Koushi are absent which could mean that they joined the CROW unit later on.
 * On said above sketch young Link is portrait not only with dots on his forehead but also with the same facials marks under his eyes like the Third Exorcists have.
 * It's unknown why he left CROW unit
 * As the manga progress, Link appearance changes - his facial features becomes softer and his whole appearance is more appealing.
 * Link's haircut changes as the story progress - his fringe is longer than when he was first introduced . He also tends to wear a ponytail more often than braid.
 * Link appeared only once in anime's post credit omake
 * It's hinted that Link sleeps in baggy, stripped pyjama
 * It's implied that Link eats nothing but cakes