Top 10 Lists: The Top 10 Self References In The Zelda Series *Spoilers*

The Legend of Zelda series has been around for over two decades, and during this time, it has established itself as one of the most well respected and bankable franchises in videogame history. Considering it's impressive storytelling, innovative control mechanics, immersive level design, and emotionally resonating characters both good and bad (see: Tingle), it's no wonder that gamers froth at the mouth each time Nintendo announces the series next installment. While timeline theorists continue to debate just how each installment exactly fits in with the big picture, it's important to note that Nintendo itself has done little to stop them. In fact, with the ever increasing backlog of in-game content, Nintendo has made many efforts to link (excuse the pun) their games together by referencing characters, songs, and items from games past without ever drawing attention to them, or altering the current game's direction. These little moments are fleeting, but to the experienced Zelda gamer, they contribute to a far greater immersion into the series, and the rich history that it entails. The following list is not complete; there are more that have been found, and there will be more that will be found. Rather, this list contains my personal favorites for the references the zelda series has made to itself over the years.

The Postman in Twilight Princess is an odd fellow to say the least. In addition to interrupting your adventure periodically to deliver some letters, he can also be found hiding all over Hyrule, from Zora’s Domain, to the Ordon Stables. The Postman himself is a reference to the Postman from Majora's Mask, marked by their similar appearance (white garb, red hat). This alone was not necessarily worth mentioning, however there were two other components to the postman that made his case for inclusion in this list. If you examine his hat, you'll see that there's a bunny head, referencing the bunny hood which was sold to the Marathon Runner in OoT (whose character model doubled over as the Postman from MM). What put him over the edge, for me anyway, was that when he gives you a letter, he hums the sound you hear when receiving an item (ex: da, da-da-da daaah!) that has been a staple of the Zelda series.

Without giving too much away about the plot of Twilight Princess, suffice it to say that about a third of the way through the game “something” happens to Hyrule Castle. As the Castle Guards are keeping the Castle Town residents away, it seems that the only inhabitant knowledgeable about this occurrance is a lone goron, standing high atop a balcony looking northward. Once Link finds this goron, he is quick to tell Link all he knows, confessing that he has kept this a secret from the others. The goron then confesses “Yes, it is a secret to everybody,” which references the many secret holes found in the original Zelda. Inside these holes, Link would find a friendly Moblin (normally an enemy), who was nice enough to give link more rupees, saying “It’s a secret to everybody.” While this excellent reference is unique on its own, I also enjoy the manner in which it is relayed in Twilight princess. The goron almost seems embarrassed to say it, as though he’s quoting against his will. I’m also excited about the prospects of this referencing method happening again, perhaps with characters saying phrases such as “10th enemy has the bomb”, “I am Error,” or my personal favorite, “Excuuuuuuse me, princess!”

Translating Hylian is hard. Very hard. It seems so hard, in fact, that Hylians themselves had some difficulty doing so as their history progressed. Fortunately for us, however, they tried, and in turn, so have we. One of the locations in the GameBoy Advance’s Minish Cap was the town Library, which housed many different books, all with the Hylian Language on their binding. It so happens that one of these books (when translated from Hylian, to Japanese, to English… like I said, it’s hard), references the “Triumph Forks,” a nod to what the Fishman in The Wind Waker called the Triforce (assumedly because fish, and by proxy, fishmen, aren’t exactly known for their hearing underwater). Another book when translated references the original titles of the Oracle games for the GameBoy Color. Besides possibly offering some useful timeline info (WW before TMC), I think these also bring up some questions regarding the nature of Hyrulean Lore. Did Hylians forget the Triforce by the time of the Minish Cap? Who did the Fishman tell that passed down the information on the Triumph Forks? What’s with this Fishman anyway? Regardless, kudos go to Capcom for playing ball with Nintendo to learn the Hylian language and incorporate it properly.

With a location called “the Nintendo Gallery,” was there any question as to whether or not Nintendo would add in something special? This location in the Wind Waker, outside of the Forest Haven, is home to the artist Carlov, who carves models after being inspired by pictographs that Link gives him. He also seems to be an avid collector of Zelda history, as his desk is peppered with several masks from Majora’s Mask; including the Keaton Mask, Goron Mask, and All-Night Mask.

Fishing was a fun inclusion in the Ocarina of Time, and the Fisherman was who you went to see to rent the rod to do it. Although he may not have led the most eventful life (mainly losing his hair and standing behind a counter for 7 years), he remains a fond memory of many gamers and developers alike. It was only fair then, that by the time of Twilight Princess, his memory lives on, by way of a photograph on the wall of the New Fishing Pond. The current shop owner even refers to him as her great ancestor and mimics his trademark backscratch. Also in the picture with the Fisherman is the Hylian Loach, the “bonus” fish in OoT that could only be caught with the sinking lure. How do you like that; not only did he at some point leave his post to start a family, he stole Link’s fish! Oh well; to be fair, Link did steal his hat.

The sages are a crucial part of the Ocarina of Time. Once Link finds them all, they work together to help link defeat Ganondorf by… well, making a bridge. While this was the first time we met the sages, this had not been the first time Zelda Fans have heard their names. All of the sage names (excluding Impa), were in fact taken from Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, the second Zelda game for the NES. As this Link traverses across Hyrule, he comes across many towns, among them, Rauru Town, Ruto Town, Saria Town, Nabooru Village, and Darunia Mountain Town. There’s even Mido Port Town, who in OoT was the self proclaimed “Head” of the Kokiri’s. From a timeline perspective, this means that after the events of the Ocarina of Time, these towns were erected in the sages (and Mido’s) honor. Here’s hoping that with a future release, we’ll see Link come across someone named Kasuto (the last town in Zelda II and the only one not referenced).

As I mentioned above, the sages are very important, and it’s only fitting that they are referenced again from time to time. One reference I certainly appreciated was seeing the different sage medallions on top of the Arbiter’s Grounds in Twilight Princess. My favorite, however, was seen in the Master Sword Room in Hyrule Castle for the Wind Waker. If you take the time to look around the room, you will see some beautiful stain glass windows that pay fair tribute to each of the six sages in the Ocarina of Time, as well as show the symbol of their races (Hylian, Kokiri, Goron, Zora, Sheikah, and Gerudo). There is also a seventh window in the middle, which depicts Ganon being sealed away. Each of these windows are great to look at and really show that Nintendo has been trying to inspire a sense of Hyrulean history with its games.

Let’s face it – Zoras are cool; their fins are functioning boomerangs, they can generate electricity, and they don’t hop around and drown when they touch water (looking at you Deku Scrubs!). Furthering their coolness, the Zoras of Majora’s Mask even had their own rock band, with the Indigo-gos. During the course of Link’s adventure, he can meet up with the individual members of the band in their rooms while they are practicing. It just so happens that they are each playing a Zelda song from the past! Japas, the (literal) bass player, and Evan, the pianist, both play songs from the original Zelda (the cave theme and game over theme), while Tijo the drummer plays (rhythmically) the cave theme from the SNES Zelda adventure A Link to the Past. To top it all off, the band’s manager Toto says that the band’s old standby is “Ballad of the Wind Fish,” a reference to a flute song that appeared in the Gameboy game Link’s Awakening. These zoras sure know their Zelda!

There are many musical references in Twilight Princess: “Saria’s Song” can be heard in the Forest Grove; “The Serenade of Water” plays with the Zora Queen; even the “Water Temple Theme” can be heard inside the fortune Teller’s Shop. My favorites, however, revolve around the howling stones Link comes across in wolf form. By howling to the tunes that emanate from these stones as the wind passes through them, Link can summon an ancient swordsman to learn secret battle techniques, however the real draw comes from the tunes themselves. Several songs from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask make appearances in howling form, such as the “Song of Healing,” the “Requiem of Spirit,” the “Prelude of Light,” and even “Zelda’s Lullaby” to gain entrance to the Forest Grove. The stones themselves also look familiar, sporting the recurring Sheikah symbol of the eye and teardrop, which in itself is fun to spot throughout the games (check the back of Zelda’s cloak in TP). Personally, I like to think that the Hero of Time (who knew the songs being played) is the one who fashioned the stones from the Gossip Stones, hollowing them out to have wind blow through them, but this is of course up for debate.

For those that played the Ocarina of Time when it first came out, we knew we were getting into something big as soon as the game booted up. Prior to entering the game, we are treated to an opening cinema of Link riding Epona around Hyrule Field, one of the largest 3-D environments created at the time, while a majestic score plays in the background. This was indeed a revolutionary moment for the franchise, but did you know that Zelda fans have heard this music before? The music that plays is actually an expanded, orchestrated version of the song played by the recorder in the original Legend of Zelda. In this game, the recorder melody was used in a variety of ways, from warping around Hyrule, to defeating the boss Digdogger, and has also been referenced since in various other games, like Wind Waker, and the Minish Cap. For me, this instance was the first time I realized that the Zelda games (and games in general) were capable of referencing the series’ past, and exactly how much care is put into maintaining the series’ traditions, ideas, and, occurrences with each new iteration.

Hidden references in Zelda games are by no means limited to the series itself. Many games have also added in other Nintendo references, such as the mushroom kingdom character portraits in Ocarina of Time, the Mario Mask in Majora's Mask, the Bullet Bill shirt in Twilight Princess, and even an animal crossing reference in Phantom Hourglass. Although these are humorous inclusions to find, the Zelda self references, I feel, go beyond designer trickery and play as important a part in the Series storyline as the legends and characters that make them up. It is in many of these references that Zelda timeline theorists find the most to talk about, as they can slowly assemble the bigger picture of the Zelda Universe with each new entry to the series, whether Nintendo intends it or not.

List by BlueGunstarHero (09/17/2009)