Characters in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
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This article is about fictional characters from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Game Boy. Despite its title, Princess Zelda is not found in this game.
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[edit] Link
On a voyage at sea he is in a wreck and washes up on the shore of the mysterious Koholint Island, where he is saved by Marin. Here, he encounters a variety of characters, explores dungeons, battles creatures, and collects instruments which he uses to play a song for the Wind Fish who lives on top of the mountain. He is occasionally assisted by friendly creatures.
[edit] Marin
Marin is a girl who saves Link in the opening sequence. As the game advances, she starts showing much fondness for Link, and soon develops a bit of a crush on him.
As the game begins, Link awakens in Marin's house after washing ashore on Koholint Island. A groggy Link mistakes Marin for Princess Zelda due to their physical similarities (stated by the Link's Awakening manual).
As the game progresses, Marin teaches Link his first Ocarina song, "The Ballad of the Wind Fish", not to be confused with the song of the same name in Majora's Mask. At one point, she also follows Link about in order to help wake a sleeping walrus. This part of the game is notable for comical moments such as when the two fall down a well and when she grabs the operator of the trendy game using his mechanical crane. Later, she is kidnapped by monsters and stranded on a broken bridge. Link saves her using his hookshot.
In a secret reward ending, if a player completes the game without losing a life, Marin is granted her wish and becomes a seagull so that she can fly to distant lands and sing to bring joy to others, but only in the original version of the game, or when playing the DX version on an original GameBoy. The DX version carries a slightly different ending, containing a face-portrait of her, followed up by the original secret ending.
Marin and her father Tarin bear a striking physical resemblance to Malon and Talon from Ocarina of Time.
Marin appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a Trophy as a reward for getting all characters and levels, which also unlocks the Sound Test.
[edit] Tarin
Tarin is the father of Marin. He has an uncanny resemblance to Mario (his love for mushrooms only furthers the reference to Mario). At the beginning of the game, Tarin gives Link his shield when he wakes up from his state of temporary unconsciousness. He is often seen getting himself into wacky situations on his expeditions into Koholint Island's forests. Throughout the course of the game, he has a hallucinatory vision of himself as a mischievous raccoon who hides important items from Link and later on gets stung by bees while poking at their honeycomb with a stick. He can sometimes be found in bed at his house in Mabe Village recuperating from these events shortly after they occur. Near the end of the game you see a scene of him holding yet another mushroom/toadstool, indicating that he certainly does not learn from his (mis)adventures.
A Tarin-like character appears in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time under the name Talon, father of Malon.
[edit] Mr. Write
Mr. Write is a scholar who lives in a house in the northern part of the Mysterious Forest. His appearance is inspired by the similarly-named Dr. Wright, a green-haired computer assistant who would sometimes appear in the SNES version of SimCity and SimCity 64, who in turn is named after SimCity designer Will Wright. His name is also a pun on the phrase "Mr. Right."
He also appeared in Oracle of Seasons (although not named) and The Minish Cap featured a parody of him, Dr. Left.
To add a comedic flair, Mr. Write writes a love letter to an unknown admirer whom he too "loves." She is actually Christine (a goat) from Animal Village and gives Mr. Write a picture of Princess Peach from the notable Mario series. He believes 'Peach' to be his admirer.
The music heard in both Mr. Write's and Christine's houses is Dr. Wright's theme.
[edit] Owl
The wise talking owl arrives at certain points in the game to provides hints and backstory. He believes in a prophecy that says Link will wake the Wind Fish. Although he does not provide a name in this game, he would inspire an owl very similar to himself in the following Zelda game, Ocarina of Time, named Kaepora Gaebora (some fans believe both owls to be one and the same, but this hasn't been verified as canon). He explains the nature of the island and the nightmares and directs Link towards his ultimate goal, though Link never realizes the reason behind it. The owl is likely another part of the Wind Fish's subconscious, as he vanishes when the Wind Fish "awakens" in the dream.
In Majora's Mask, the owl statues, which allow rapid transportation between locations using the Ocarina of Time (and also function as quick-save points), are inspired by Kaepora Gaebora, who occasionally carried Link rapidly from one place to another. Smaller owl statues featured in dungeon puzzles in A Link to the Past. In "Oracle of Ages" and "Oracle of Seasons", Owl-statues hidden around the game world would pass information when Mystery Seeds were sprinkled on them.
In Twilight Princess, there are Owl statues in the Temple of Time and around Hyrule that have to be animated with the Dominion Rod in order to gain access to symbols that need to be added to the Sky Book in order to get to the City in the Sky. They are said to be a reference to Kaepora Gaebora and the Owl from Link's Awakening.
[edit] Madam MeowMeow and BowWow
Madam MeowMeow is a woman in Mabe Village who owns a dog. The dog BowWow, who is a Chain Chomps found in the Super Mario Bros. series, is kidnapped by the Moblins of the Mysterious Forest, and Link rescues him. BowWow goes on to return the favor by eating the flowers blocking his entrance to the swamp dungeon.
[edit] Ulrira
Ulrira is the oldest resident of Mabe Village. Due to his shy nature, he can only be contacted from a telephone booth. Ulrira seems to know a bit about everything, and Link can get hints to proceed with the game by calling Ulrira from the various telephone booths on Koholint Island.
[edit] Richard
Richard is a prince who lives in a villa filled with frogs in Pothole Field. His appearance is inspired by himself in a Game Boy title only released in Japan, Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru (translated as For the Frog the Bell Tolls). The music played in his villa is a remixed version of the Japanese title's main theme. "Kaeru" is Japanese for "Frog", which explains the frogs in his house.
When Link went to the gate of Kanalet Castle in the color version, the Camera Mouse and Richard both came to see him, while the Camera Mouse took a picture of Link and Richard striking their poses in front of the gate.
In both versions, Richard made a deal with Link by allowing him to get the Slime Key after he retrieves Richard's Golden Leaves inside Kanalet Castle.
[edit] The Wind Fish
The Wind Fish is a whale-like creature that sleeps in a giant egg nestled in the crater at the top of Koholint Island. The Wind Fishes' egg bears a resemblance to a Yoshi Egg from the Mario games. When Link wakes the Wind Fish at the end of the game, the island vanishes, leaving Link floating in the sea and watching the Wind Fish fly away. The owl makes it clear that the island has disappeared because it was all the dream of the Wind Fish; once he is awoken, it ceases to exist.
An owl statue outside the Moblin's Cave in Link's Awakening reads: "The Wind Fish in name only, for it is neither."
The Wind Fish makes a cameo appearance in Kirby Air Ride, flying around on the Frozen Hills stage. It is also noted that Ocarina of Time's Jabu-Jabu and The Wind Waker's Jabun are similar in appearance to the Wind Fish. Also, in Majora's Mask, there is a song named "Ballad of the Wind Fish."
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Link · Great Fairy · Impa · Malon · Princess Zelda · Tingle and related characters By game |
