Line #3 TearJerker/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening


1	As one of the first ''Zelda'' games to really be fueled by deep characterization and emotional gravitas, ''Link's Awakening'' is bound to be filled with heart-wrenching moments.
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3	* The whole island is revealed to be part of the Wind Fish's dream, and when you wake him up so Link can leave the island, [[DreamApocalypse everyone you got to know in the game blinks out of existence]] -- with the scene hanging on Marin singing for a few moments before ending.
4	** It becomes even worse with the Grim Creeper and his last words upon his defeat in the Eagle's Tower, who claims that Link himself will ''also'' be erased - though that turns out to be untrue.
5	** The music that accompanies it, the Ballad of the Wind Fish, is incredibly melancholy. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPWEJMGxTBs Listen to it here]]; the actual ending is more embellished, but Marin's version is haunting.
6	** And your very last image of Tarin is him ''beaming and holding up a mushroom'' as he slowly fades out of existence.
7	** It's probably even worse in the remake, if anything because of the more detailed and childish graphics. The sight of such a lush and happy world being completely erased is just simply devastating.
8	** Even the [[AlasPoorVillain Shadow Nightmares]] seem distressed by this in their final moments.
9	--->'''[=DethI=]:''' Our world is going to disappear... Our world... Our... world...
10	*** Doubly so as the final three dungeon bosses -- Façade, Grim Creeper, and Hot Head -- all warn Link to stop before he destroys the island.
11	---->'''Façade:''' Okay, listen up! If the Wind Fish wakes up, everything on this island will be gone forever! And I do mean... EVERYTHING!\
12	'''Grim Creeper & Evil Eagle:''' My energy... gone... I... lost! But you will be lost too, if the Wind Fish wakes! Same as me... you... are... in... his... dream...\
13	'''Hot Head:''' [[WhatTheHellHero Why did you come here? If it weren't for you, nothing would have to change!]] You cannot wake the Wind Fish! Remember, you... too... are in... the dream...
14	** If you beat the game without dying, then Marin turns into an angel or a seagull (depending on the version) at the end instead of disappearing into nothingness.
15	** If you pay very close attention, you'll notice that during Link's ignorance of the island's true nature, every dungeon had its own unique musical theme that sometimes was pretty significantly different from one another. Once Link visits the Southern Face Shrine and realizes the truth of the island, the final three dungeons take on a fairly similar, almost somber tone. It's as if the music itself has ceased to portray a grand adventure to save the day and now represents a sadness at what you're choosing to do.
16	* After Marin realizes that Link is going to leave the island, and hints that perhaps she had realized the true nature of her existence, her only request is for Link to never forget her or her song. Marin is never referenced in any other ''Zelda'' game except the non-canon ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors''. Moreover, the song you use to wake the Wind Fish and erase the island is the love song that she taught you.
17	** The fact that she is included in ''Hyrule Warriors'' is actually a really good thing for her, at least in that continuity: it means she's real, since she could leave Koholint. While ''Hyrule Warriors'' is technically non-canon, some of what it introduced eventually trickled back into the main series (mostly through the ''Zelda Encyclopedia''). So she has to have ended up in that world after the end of the game, and was changed back into a human. This is her wish being granted by the Wind Fish, and not only does she get to sing for people, she gets to do so [[ActionGirl violently]] (which, given some of her comments if you do certain things while she's with you, is actually in-character!).
18	* The ghost revisiting his old home. Any older players who've dug up remnants of a long-forgotten pleasant memory from years, even decades ago in their life, would be able to relate to the ghost's sadness at days gone by, never to be reclaimed.
19	-->''"The flow of time is always cruel... Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..."''
20	--->-- '''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Sheik]]'''
21	* Everything sad about ''Link's Awakening'' is worse in the manga adaptation. Throughout the first half, Link is convinced that he's fighting monsters to bring peace to the island. When he discovers that waking the Wind Fish will destroy the island and end the lives of everyone on it he's grown to care about, he's understandably horrified. It's at this point we find out that Felicia the fairy was reluctant to tell him the truth, and that the Owl is part of the Wind Fish's spirit and also knew the whole time. Link then outright ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandons]]'' the entire thing, deciding to leave the island with Marin so she can fulfill her dream of seeing the world. However, when Link tries to leave, he sails for days without getting any further away. He gives up and returns to the island, and has a conversation with Marin where she discusses the island as a pleasant dream she wants to wake up from so she can see the world. She leaves and the Owl appears, saying that she knows Link was sent to destroy her world and accepts it. This renews Link's hope in the quest and leaves him to do it all for Marin.
22	* The official vocal version of Ballad of the Wind Fish made for the Switch remake can hit hard with both its solemn melody and the lyrics themselves, almost giving the impression Marin is begging Link to not leave.
23	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsVMC2PAEIQ original theme]] for the Face Shrine is melancholy enough, sounding like TheReveal of Koholint Island not being real is playing on Link's mind, and remaining something he can't get out of his head throughout the dungeon. However, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EVhFI_y_9w the remake's version]] kicks it up a notch by adding dark and somber orchestral strings to the start, bringing the original 8-bit arrangement into the mix later on. This version doesn't sound like Link is pondering the questionable existence of the island like the original, but it really gives the impression that he was stricken by the news, and is roaming the halls of the Face Shrine in a HeroicBSOD, with the theme of the southern version of the dungeon creeping back to mind no matter how much he tries to forget about the news he learned there.

Context TearJerker / TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening