History NightmareFuel / TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast

* Both the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi0APizJuRU Light World]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3dZZsarAKk Dark World]] dungeon themes give one a sense of desolation and dread.

* The most common enemies you fight in the Light World are brainwashed human soldiers, members of Hyrule's military. You're killing members of your own side whose minds have been enslaved by their enemy. Its something to think about, especially as you can kill them in gruesome ways like freezing and [[LiterallyShatteredLives shattering them]].

* Agahnim is probably one of the most competent Zelda villains; he kills the King and apparently vaporizes the maidens, including Zelda--the latter right before Link's eyes. When he's defeated the first time, he transports Link to the Dark World. The only reason that Link survives is because Agahnim had no way of knowing that Link has the Magic Mirror, or possibly no way of knowing that it can warp Link back to the Light World. After you defeat him in Hyrule Castle, various changes occur in enemy layouts, with most of the talkable people outside vanishing with soldiers openly patrolling the village.

* Blind's Hideout. At one point in the dungeon, you find one of seven lost maidens you are to rescue. So after leading her into a big, empty room with a big patch of sunlight, she screams "'''Gyaaah! Too Bright!'''" and it's actually Blind, the boss of the dungeon! The young, pretty "maiden" is now a big, ugly red monster that floats around the room, shoots fireballs everywhere and sends out his multiple heads to do the same thing.

* The many [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DGYFtaYRYo thieves]] lurking in both the Lost Woods of the Light World and the Village of Outcasts of the Dark World. They follow you constantly, they bump into you without warning if you get too close to them and knock out certain items (Rupees, bombs, etc.) from your arsenal to steal before you can even claim them yourself, and both versions by themselves are pretty creepy in their own right. Since animals replace people in the latter world, you think nothing of a random fox until it approaches you and the former world beings has a permanent scowl on his face and white iris-less eyes that are an inversion of BlackEyesOfEvil. The worst part is that they're the only enemies in the game that you ''can't'' kill; you can only temporarily stun them with your boomerang.

* The manual describes how, many centuries ago, a thief known as Ganondorf Dragmire got his hands on the Triforce, corrupted the Golden Land into the Dark World and ultimately became the dark beast known as Ganon.

* The manual describes how centuries ago, a thief known as Ganondorf Dragmire got his hands on the Triforce, corrupted the Golden Land into the Dark World, and became the beast known as Ganon.

* The manual describes how Ganondorf Dragmire got his hands on the Triforce, corrupted the Golden Land into the Dark World, and became the beast known as Ganon.

[[caption-width-right:256: Ahh! KillItWithFire! [[note]] Literally. The only way to go inside is to burn the mouth with the Fire Rod. [[/note]]]]

** The Dark World dungeon theme is called [[NamesToRunFromReallyFast Dungeon of Shadows]].

* If you exploit some glitches to battle and defeat Agahnim early in the game before you get the Magic Mirror or Moon Pearl, you get transported into the Dark World, where you get transformed into Bunny Link and can do absolutely nothing beyond wandering around helplessly until you eventually get killed. In addition to being a scary enough concept in itself--not helped by the somber "Bunny Link" theme playing as he gets pelted by spears and bombs from the assorted enemies--the horror of the situation is turned up to eleven when you realize this was the fate of ''everyone'' who wandered into a magical transporter or got zapped into the Dark World by Agahnim. Also a meta example, as the game actually punishes you for your cheating in a serious way.

* If you exploit some glitches to battle and defeat Agahnim early in the game before you get the Magic Mirror or Moon Pearl, you get transported into the Dark World, where you get transformed into Bunny Link and can do absolutely nothing beyond wandering around helplessly until you eventually get killed. In addition to being a scary enough concept in itself--not helped by the somber "Bunny Link" theme playing as he gets pelted by spears and bombs from the assorted enemies--the horror of the situation is turned UpToEleven when you realize this was the fate of ''everyone'' who wandered into a magical transporter or got zapped into the Dark World by Agahnim. Also a meta example, as the game actually punishes you for your cheating in a serious way.

* If you exploit some glitches to battle and defeat Agahnim early in the game before you get the Magic Mirror or Moon Pearl, you get transported into the Dark World, where you get transformed into Bunny Link and can do absolutely nothing beyond wandering around helplessly until you eventually get killed. In addition to being a scary enough concept in itself--not helped by the somber "Bunny Link" theme playing as he gets pelted by spears and bombs from the assorted enemies--the horror of the situation is turned UpToEleven when you realize this was the fate of ''everyone'' who wandered into a magical transporter or got zapped into the Dark World by Agahnim.

* Blind's Hideout. At one point in the dungeon, you find one of seven lost maidens you are to rescue. So after leading her into a big, empty room with a big patch of sunlight, she screams "GYAAGH! TOO BRIGHT!" and it's actually Blind, the boss of the dungeon! The young, pretty "maiden" is now a big, ugly red monster that floats around the room, shoots fireballs everywhere and sends out his multiple heads to do the same thing.

* Both the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9lu1V5Wc-0 Light World]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ObFGkl_-4 Dark World]] dungeon themes give one a sense of desolation and dread.

** There's an especially creepy moment with one of them in Turtle Rock, in the room where you find the Compass. Likely you think nothing's going on until you go to open the chest, hearing a strange sound like something slamming as you pull the Compass from the chest. Return to the door and you find it's a solid wall with the eye ready to blast you where the door was! It's a seriously frightening moment since it's the only time in the game this happens and comes out of nowhere. Said trap can be overcome when you realize that the door opens in the wall when you're not facing northward and you can exit if you hold a charged Spin Attack and walk out backwards, but many players likely just used the Mirror to warp back to the beginning of the dungeon for thinking there's no escape.

* The manual describes how Ganon got his hands on the Triforce, corrupted the Golden Land, and became a beast.
-->''After [[BadBoss vanquishing his own followers]], the leader stood triumphant before the Triforce and grasped it with his blood-stained hands. He heard a whispered voice: "If thou hast a strong desire or dream, wish for it..." And in reply, the roaring laughter of the brigand leader echoed across time and space and even reached the far-off land of Hyrule.''

* Those rather ominous looking eyes on the walls starting in Misery Mire and are everywhere throughout Turtle Rock and a few places in Ganon's Tower. You'd be forgiven for thinking they're nothing but mere creepy decoration on the walls, but it's sure to startle you when they fire a LASER at you the minute you step into their line of sight. Said laser cannot be blocked until you find the Mirror Shield midway through Turtle Rock.
** There's an especially creepy moment with one of them in Turtle Rock in the room you find the Compass. Likely you think nothing's going on until you go to open the chest, hearing a strange sound like something slamming as you pull the Compass from the chest. Return to the door and you find it's a solid wall with the eye ready to blast you where the door was! It's a seriously frightening moment since it's the only time in the game this happens and comes out of nowhere. Said trap can be overcome when you realize that the door opens in the wall when you're not facing northward and you can exit if you hold a charged Spin Attack and walk out backwards, but many players likely just used the Mirror to warp back to the beginning of the dungeon for thinking there's no escape.
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* Link is framed for Zelda's kidnapping at the start of the game, and while most in Kakariko Village don't buy it, there are a couple of people who will rat you out upon making close contact, having a guard appear and have the peaceful village replaced with something more menacing until you either escape somewhere or kill the guard. The first time it happens can give you quite a shock.

* There's something unsettling about Turtle Rock and its pits. Some of the areas show lava bubbling far below you, as though you're traveling through the upper caverns of an inactive volcano (something that would be mirrored in Lorule's Ice Palace, inhabiting the exact same spot on the map in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds''), but most of the time you're traveling along platforms over empty, pitch black chasms. In fact, [[https://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/SuperNES/LegendOfZelda-ALinkToThePast-TurtleRock-B3F.png the B3 floor]] is essentially an underground valley into said black abyss that cuts off on either side of the map, meaning that the room is ENORMOUS and bigger than you can see in-game. The thought of Link falling into that...''Brrrr''!!
** For added horrific fun, there's the pitch black room in B2F that has you gliding around another pit into the abyss while only able to see a few feet in front of you. There's only a few traps in the room, but it's huge, maze-like, and the thought alone is chilling...

* The most common enemies you fight in the Light World are brainwashed human soldiers, members of Hyrule's military. You're killing members of your own side whose minds have been enslaved by their enemy. And imagine what things will be like after Agahnim and Ganon have been defeated for the families of the brainwashed soldiers.

* Link is framed for Zelda's kidnapping at the start of the game, making Kakariko Village an unsafe place to be. If citizens see you, they'll sic guards on you until you leave the screen or kill the guards.