History NightmareFuel / TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7hghjDM7_I The original BGM for the Catfish's Maw]] has a mysterious and oddly threatening sound to it, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc4GYLLgMcc the remake's rendition]] flat-out turns it into something straight out of a horror movie.

[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tail_cave_execution_chamber.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:The fate of all those who faced Moldorm.]]

* When the true nature of Koholint is revealed. The player is faced with a MortonsFork. Do they proceed knowing the consequences of their actions? Or stop just before the final boss? The meaning of the cryptic owl statues is unraveled. [[spoiler: If Link does not escape the deity's dream, he'll age away and die of natural causes. As bad as that sounds, there's no guarantee he'll even pass on, as there are ghosts on the island. The hero will [[BarredFromTheAfterLife linger in this world for all eternity as a spirit]].]]
** And if [[spoiler: Link's spirit ''is'' trapped in this world for eternity, will he be able to reincarnate? When Ganon returns in the first game, will a Link rise to meet him? Or will he return unopposed?]]
*** This one at least has a small consolation: [[spoiler:while all Links possess the Spirit of the Hero, they aren't all reincarnations of the same soul. The Link from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' is still alive during the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', if Zelda and Niko's comments are true. So there are two Links alive at the same time, both possessing the Hero's Spirit. Then there's the case of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''[=/=]''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' Link existing as a ghost while a new hero takes his place. So a new Link COULD be born in the world, at least.]]
* The game ends [[spoiler:with a DreamApocalypse: you've just erased Koholint Island from existence, alongside Tarin, the villagers, the animals don't exist anymore, Bow-Wow the Chain Chomp, none of which exist anymore.]] Unless you get to unlock the [[ThatOneAchievement borderline achievable]] [[spoiler: special ending]], even [[spoiler:Marin]] is among the casualties.
** It's possible that [[spoiler:Koholint doesn't cease to exist]], given other games in the series [[spoiler:like ''Phantom Hourglass'']] involve a similar premise (though much more of a surprise). [[spoiler:In which case it will return when the Wind Fish sleeps again.]]
* The southern Face Shrine as a whole is pretty disturbing for an 8-bit Zelda game, with the eerie fresco, the apocalyptic messages, and the somber music. It's also where the island's [[TownWithADarkSecret dark secret]] is discovered.
* Catfish's Maw just as you've dealt the final blow to its boss. This is the first boss that speaks to Link about the true nature of the island, accompanied by some very foreboding and sinister music. This can be very unnerving for a first-time player.
* Key Cavern's BGM starts a bit too loud, [[JumpScare which can make the moment you enter the dungeon pretty unnerving the first time around.]]

** This secret has been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j4gsoOcuZU shown off in the HD remake]] and it is arguably more unsettling than the original. For starters, the shopkeeper had a constant SlasherSmile on his face that never changed. Here, he has a joyous, beaming grin on his face right up until he says [[PreMortemOneLiner "Now you'll pay the ultimate price!"]], at that point he looks ''furious''. Also, it is ambiguous as to what exactly he did to Link in the original due to the lack of graphics, as he could have just shot him with a weapon. Here? He surrounds himself with electricity and blasts Link with his hands, Palpatine style. Finally, after Link keels over, he just... stands there, his big, dopey grin back on, looking very satisfied that he just fried a child. The new Game Over screen fading to sepia as everything freezes still like a horror movie is the cherry on top of it all.
* If you get knocked off the edge of the arena by the first boss, you won't just respawn with half a heart missing like in the rest of the game, oh no. You'll find yourself in some kind of execution chamber with skeletons hanging by chains from the ceiling.
* Dodongo snakes, an enemy unique to this game. They don't even attack you, but their shiny black ball-like design, their lack of any facial features but a gaping, grinning mouth and the fact that super-frantic music starts playing whenever you face them is more than a little unnerving.

* The player is left with an ''existential nightmare'' after completing the game. [[spoiler:When Koholint Island suffers a DreamApocalypse, all are the characters of this magical world not just dead? [[CessationOfExistence But worse? Erased from existence?]] An ApocalypseHow "Z" class? Or will they be [[{{Reincarnation}} Reincarnated]] somehow? Do they live on in an alternate reality? Do they survive in Link's memories in the waking world? [[HopeIsScary Or were they never real]] to begin with?]]
** Other games in the series with a similar premise [[spoiler:like ''Phantom Hourglass'']] treat it as [[spoiler:existing in another world, only connected to ours through the dream of their guardian]]. So it's possible [[spoiler:while Marin is allowed to come to our world and sing for people, flying as a seagull from place to place, the rest of the island will at least come back when the Wind Fish sleeps again. Perhaps even without noticing they ever disappeared at all]].
* Near the end of the game, the monsters start to hit with a harrowing thought: [[spoiler:If you wake up the wind fish and end the dream with you in it...do you die with them?]]
* The Wind Fish's Egg may not be a traditional, enemy-infested final dungeon, but what it lacks in action, it makes up for with an unsettling atmosphere. A whole bunch of small identical rooms, [[NothingIsScarier completely empty]], that lead into each other, with no clear path through, [[HellIsThatNoise accompanied by]] [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_5BWWzzwlF0 one of the most minimalistic and unsettling tracks ever produced on a 4-bit soundchip]], featuring a chilling DarkReprise of "Ballad of the Wind Fish".
** The Switch version makes it even creepier with ethereal moaning to accompany the music.

* The Wind Fish's Egg may not be a traditional, enemy-infested final dungeon, but what it lacks in action, it makes up for with an unsettling atmosphere. A whole bunch of small identical rooms, [[NothingIsScarier completely empty]], that lead into each other, with no clear path through, [[HellIsThatNoise accompanied by]] [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_5BWWzzwlF0 one of the most minimalistic and unsettling tracks ever produced on a 4-bit soundchip]]

* Catfish's Maw just as you've dealt the final blow to its boss. This is the first boss that speaks to Link about the true nature of the island, accompanied by some very foreboding and sinister music. This can be very unnerving for a first-time player. That its tail is exposed revealing that it [[EldritchAbomination consists of multiple hearts]], ''while the music still plays'', does ''not'' help.

** Recently, this secret has been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j4gsoOcuZU shown off in the HD remake]] and it is arguably more unsettling than the original. For starters, the shopkeeper had a constant SlasherSmile on his face that never changed. Here, he has a joyous, beaming grin on his face right up until he says [[PreMortemOneLiner "Now you'll pay the ultimate price!"]], at that point he looks ''furious''. Also, it is ambiguous as to what exactly he did to Link in the original due to the lack of graphics, as he could have just shot him with a weapon. Here? He surrounds himself with electricity and blasts Link with his hands, Palpatine style. Finally, after Link keels over, he just... stands there, his big, dopey grin back on, looking very satisfied that he just fried a child. The new Game Over screen fading to sepia as everything freezes still like a horror movie is the cherry on top of it all.