Journey to Find Oneself: Link has long defeated the evil Ganon, but Hyrule merely enjoyed a precautious peace, its citizens wondering when the next threat would arrive to end the tranquility. Feeling in need of enlightenment, he embarks on this journey for foreign lands.
Kleptomaniac Hero: In addition to Link's usual kleptomania, he can now outright steal things from the shop.
Only Sane Man: Indeed, because he's the only real man in the whole game.
Waking Up Elsewhere: Link goes unconscious after the lightning bolt hits his ship at the beginning. He wakes up in Marin and Tarin's house on Koholint Island.
Did Not Get the Girl: Even if Marin escapes the dream in the ending, link still can't be with her because she's a bird.
Your Mind Makes It Real: If Link dies in the dream shrine he dies in real-life. He's also at the mercy of the Wind Fish's imagination, so if the Nightmares get him, it's a real death.
Marin
The female lead in Link's Awakening, of whom Malon is an Expy. A singer who rescued Link when he washed ashore, and later teaches him the "Ballad of the Wind Fish" which is critical to waking the Wind Fish.
However, she is SCARILY encouraging of Link abusing Cuccos if you do it for long enough. Probably because, once she starts encouraging you, if you keep doing it, the Cuccos will start attacking you like they usually do.
Japanese Honorifics: The animals of the Animal Village refer to Marin as Marin-chan. This is localized in English as the nickname Little Marin.
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Apart from the fact that she literally is a "dream girl", she qualifies. Life virtually revolving around the protagonist? Check. Quirky personality? Check. ("Dig it! Dig to the center of the earth!") Of course, Link doesn't need convincing to be adventurous.
Missing Mom: In this game and all her future incarnations. In most games, she still has a Mario look-alike dad, but in Majora's Mask, Cremia and Romani don't even have a dad.
Temporary Substitute: Fills in for Princess Zelda in the only Legend of Zelda game where Zelda doesn't appear.
Winged Humanoid (in the black-and-white version), Animorphism (in the DX version): Marin's reward if you get a No Miss Clear is to have her wish granted and either be able to fly like a seagull or become a seagull.
Tarin
The father of Marin who collects mushrooms.
Baleful Polymorph: At one point he's turned into a Raccoon (or Tanuki in the original Japanese version). Although its not exactly baleful - once he's back to normal, he recalls having fun as a raccoon.
He's also reminiscent of Link's uncle from A Link to the Past. Link even obtains the first shield from him just like he did from his uncle in the previous game.
Expy: Of Mario. He has the mustache, he loves eating mushrooms and he's turned into a raccoon/tanuki. The resemblance to Mario carries over into Talon.
Moment Killer: He does this a couple of times during the game.
Sleepy Head: Will be found at home napping in-between his appearances around the island.
No Name Given: People often mistakenly refer to him as Kaepora Gaebora since Kaepora Gaebora is an extremely obvious Expy of him, but this owl was never actually named.
Piece of God: At the end the owl reveals he is part of the Wind Fish's spirit and guardian of his dreams.
Expy: The Ocean King from Phantom Hourglass and Levias from Skyward Sword are both expies of the Wind Fish.
Fisher King: Both the inhabitants of the island and the nightmares are born from his dreams.
The Gods Must Be Lazy: You think he would've placed Link a little closer to the mainland at the end of the game.
Journey to the Center of the MindAll Koholint is but his dream, and Link must travel his way to the center of an egg and awaken the core of the deity's consciousness. The nightmares that control the whale god of course, won't go down without a fight
Mysterious Watcher: He's constantly watching Link's progress, though unlike the Owl, is unable to directly interact or communicate with the hero.
Non-Indicative Name: As described by an owl statue, "THE WIND FISH IN NAME ONLY, FOR IT IS NEITHER".
Summon Everyman Hero: While never explicitly stated, it is heavily implied nonetheless that the Wind Fish, was responsible for the storm in the game's prologue. He uses the last of his available powers to draw Link into his dream in a final desperate act to stop the nightmares taking over his mind.
A shape-shifting Sequential Boss that has affected the dreams of the Wind Fish. In its battle with Link, it takes the forms of enemies Link has fought before.
Big Bad: Throughout the whole game it's unclear who exactly the Big Bad is, but once Nightmare is introduced it's pretty clear.
Hijacked by Ganon: Inverted, Ganon appears during the final boss fight, but it's only a form taken by the Nightmare based on Link's memories.
Never Say "Die": DethI was originally called "Death Eye." On the other hand, the phonics of its new name preserve the general impact and can be considered a Punny Name.
Saving the World: In an unusual inversion, the bad guy is trying to save the world and the hero is trying to destroy it, but the Nightmares aren't saving the world for benevolent reasons.
But Thou Must: If you don't have the pineapple upon finding Papahl, your only options when he asks for help are "can't" and "nope".
Foreshadowing: Can't comprehend the idea of places outside the Island, and can't recall the island's history because it's imaginary.
He Knows About Timed Hits: Will explain that select brings up the map, and A+B+Start+Select allows you to save. They don't exactly know what it means because they're "Just kids".
Off Model: When Marin is at the beach, a quadruplet will be there in her place. However, all of the other quadruplets around Mabe Village are still at their respective places, resulting in there being five quadruplets.
No Indoor Voice: In sharp contrast to her shy and quiet husband, Mrs. Ulrira greets link with "YAHOO!"
Serious Business: His wife wishes to sweep the whole island. Halfway through the game she's swept all the way to Animal Village.
The Walrus Was Paul: Just who is this "Bucket Mouse"? Evidently, it's a mangling of a Japanese fishing shop called "Bucketmouth", but it's still pretty random.
Composite Character: Is the one who gives link the L-2 sword in the manga, making him one with the Seashell Spirit.
Death by Adaptation: While he was already technically "dead", in the manga he passes on completely, whereas the game had him stay at his grave permanently, apparently accepting it as his new home.
The Load: Is too scared to enter any dungeons, and unlike Marin too scared to just wait outside alone, so Link must get rid of him to progress.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: At any time he's at his grave (as in, not following you), you can bother him by sprinkling magic powder on it. He threatens to put a curse on you, but never does.
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