When the king of Hyrule is murdered by his regent, Draegor, a resistance is formed to oppose his tyranny. Link is a Treasure Hunter who, along with his older friend, is a member of this resistance. They learn that the last one of seven maidens is being held in the castle guardhouse, and plan a rescue mission, to take place on a dark and stormy night, but the mission's success doesn't mean it's over.
Little does Link know that this is but the start to something that would change forever the way one looks at Hyrule and its history.
In 2012, Parallel Worlds received a remodel by PuzzleDude, with SePH's blessing.* In various ways, the Remodel made the game easier to complete, but Your Mileage May Vary as to whether it merits Easy-Mode Mockery or not.
If a Trope already applies to the vanilla game, it probably shouldn't be duplicated here.
Parallel Worlds contains examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Zelda is not Princess of Hyrule in this game. Indeed, it's not stated if the king had any children at all before he died. Of course, it helps that he got better in the ending...
- Adaptation Personality Change: The Triforce still talks to Link in this game, but its abilities are different. This Triforce doesn't grant wishes, or "destroy armies" as it chooses to word it. Rather, the Triforce is only able to facilitate travel between the eponymous Parallel Worlds via the Triforce Shrine behind Hyrule Castle, and within Parallel Tower itself.
- Alternate Self: No, the Maidens are NOT Back from the Dead alongside the king in the game's ending, they're different versions who emerged from the Parallel Tower at a later point in chronological time. Ergo, the post-game Zelda does not know who Link and Draegor are, or the recent events in Hyrule.
- Apocalyptic Log: The crystals in this game are not the maidens trapped by Ganon's magic, but pre-recorded messages specifically left by said maidens in case their mission went sideways. The contents are a testament, the maiden's name, and their Parallel Tower Clue, preceded by its number in the order you're supposed to follow them in.
- Artifact of Attraction: Zelda blames the war on the Triforce being attention-grabbingly exceptional. Of COURSE people were going to want its power for themselves. Thankfully, the warmongers' descendants are better people.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Caprius says in hers that she'd rather die trying to save her world than let a "filthy" monster kill her. She... uh... REALLY has it out for the monsters plaguing the Icy World...
- Classified Information: Arices didn't want any of the maidens to speak of their clues, not even to each other. If the mission went sideways, they'd commit suicide. And yet, even though it DID go sideways, six of the seven girls survived to be interrogated by Draegor, while the seventh, Zelda, lasted long enough to meet Link. How or why the Suicide Pact failed goes unanswered. Even Zelda fails to mention it.
- Confession Cam: Tamini uses hers as one, confessing that she allowed Ganon to follow the group anyway despite Zelda saying no, claiming that his ignorance of their clues will render him harmless.
- Godzilla Threshold: Lecer states that the mission is this, as even well-intended actions can have bad consequences, so the decision wasn't one to make easily, or lightly.
- Hope Spot: Despite her pessimistic outlook, Zelda can't rule out the chance that her group will encounter a hero when they get to Hyrule. Well, he might be a Treasure Hunter in this game, but... enter Link.
- Humans Are Flawed: Zelda is fully aware that humans are, by nature, greedy, selfish, and power-hungry, and fully expects each of her companions to deliberately sabotage the mission somehow. What keeps the two trope links from being reversed is Zelda also acknowledges that humans are trying to change for the better.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: According to Stario, after creating the Parallel Tower and banishing the warmongers and their armies, the Hero gave up the power of the Triforce, which was a statement to the purity of his heart.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Lecer was worried that, though the group's intentions are noble, they could lead to the Great Offscreen War beginning anew if the warmongers and their descendants hadn't mended their ways after being banished to Hyrule. Fortunately for her, they had.
- But Now I Must Go: Despite, from their own perspective, having just emerged from the Parallel Tower and entering Hyrule, the post-game versions of Zelda and the Maidens immediately return to the Icy World. The exact context isn't clear, given that it is simply an in-universe excuse for why the game's ending wasn't changed much. Out-of-universe, it may not have been possible to make many changes to the ending back in 2006.
- The Coup: Draegor murders and usurps Hyrule's king. Except not, he's under Mind Control by Ganon.
- Damsel in Distress: The seven maidens are captured by Draegor and imprisoned in the castle guardhouse to be interrogated for their clues on how to climb the Parallel Tower, and then be disposed of once they finally talk. Only Zelda remains by the time La Résistance manages to launch its rescue operation.
- Death World: The Icy World that Zelda and the maidens hail from. Survival there is a struggle for the people, and as A Link Between Worlds would later show canonically, the people don't have time to be excellent to each other.
- Endless Winter: As mentioned above, Zelda's world is a frozen hell where survival comes first AND last. How Link survives traveling around it despite being unexpectedly thrown there after fighting Draegor is anyone's guess.
- Evil Chancellor: Draegor was the king's regent before The Coup. Again, not really. Ganon hijacked his brain.
- Great Offscreen War: Different enough from vanilla to be used here. The war ended when the world was split into an unknowable number of Parallel Worlds, except the truth is the Parallel Worlds already existed, and the Hero led the warmongers into the Parallel Tower and used the Triforce to banish them to what would become Hyrule, after which the Hero gave up the Triforce and disappeared. In the present day, Lecer worries that their mission could cause the war to restart if the warmongers' descendants haven't changed their ways.
- Infinity -1 Sword: Link's second sword upgrade, courtesy of dropping his tempered sword in a Mysterious Pond in the Lake Ruins area.
- Infinity +1 Sword: The Master Sword, having lost its status as the Sword of Plot Advancement in this game, becomes this trope instead, as you only use it in the endgame... if you were able to find the Kokiri's Emerald somewhere in the Parallel Tower.
- It's All Upstairs From Here: Twice in the original, though the second climb was removed from the Remodel. Once the player has all the equipment and ammo they know they will need, the next step is to climb the Parallel Tower in the Icy World, find the Magic Mirror at the top, use it Where It All Began to get back to Hyrule, get the Master Sword if they managed to get the Kokiri Emerald somewhere in the Tower, then climb Hyrule's version of the Parallel Tower, and THEN you get to the penultimate area where you find the last Piece Of Heart in the game, before dropping down a hidden hole to challenge Ganon. And oh boy, if you're playing on the Second Quest...
- Lampshade Hanging: When Link finds a Mushroom in the Guardhouse storage area, the description finishes with, "...what's this doing here, anyway?" knowing full well how weird it is to find a mushroom in such a place.
- La Résistance: A group of rebels is plotting to overthrow Draegor. Link and his friend are members of that group.
- The Man Behind the Man: Ganon has hijacked Draegor via Mind Control rather than Draegor being a vessel or vague "alter ego" but his role is about the same as in vanilla. And when you confront Ganon, he claims Draegor is dead, rather than Link seeing it happen after a second battle. The worst part is that the ending upholds this. Poor Draegor...
- Maximum HP Reduction: It's not known if the mechanic is present in vanilla due to the crystals' second function as a Crucial-Type Gotta Catch 'Em All, but in addition to information on climbing Parallel Tower, each recording crystal you get lowers the Final Boss's HP, making him easier to beat.note Good luck beating him on the Second Quest in the Remodel.
- Mysterious Waif: The seven maidens in general, but Zelda takes the plot-relevant role.
- New Game Plus: There is a Second Quest programmed into the game. Collecting all of the Mysterious Tablets before fighting Ganon changes the Quest Log part of the credits to include a secret message on how to play the Second Quest. Special hint! SPOILERS!!!
- Essentially, travel to the Icy World is optional in the original, but outright removed in the Remodel. As a result, in the Remodel, you face Ganon at max HP with only a few Heart Containers to your name. And if that's not enough, after a small gauntlet, you face Trinexx, which was otherwise The Unfought in this game.
- The third Light World dungeon, Farore's Isle, is exchanged with Farore's Secret, which gives you most of the items you will need to win, including the Kokiri's Emerald so you can get the Master Sword. You get the Mirror in the original, so you can immediately go to the Icy World without fighting Draegor, but it's removed in the Remodel.
- Only Smart People May Pass: The knowledge of how to scale the Parallel Tower was reduced to seven clues, each entrusted to a family that survived the war. Each of the seven maidens is from a family that had the clue, and they specifically gathered to use their clues to secure the Triforce and save their world.
- Post-Final Boss: Trinexx, boss of Turtle Rock in vanilla, is The Unfought in the normal game, but appears in the Second Quest as your true final challenge after beating Ganon. It's only not the True Final Boss due to how much easier it is.
- Rule of Seven: Seven maidens, seven clues, seven recording crystals in seven dungeons across the Icy World. Then again, maybe that luck led to Link getting involved — assuming it wasn't a Contrived Coincidence.
- Save Both Worlds: Implied, but ultimately Averted. Link's only victories are: Ganon is defeated, versions of the maidens from before they emerged from Parallel Tower do so only to promptly return to the Icy World, peace returns to Hyrule, and the king is alive again. The Icy World is still frozen, and the monsters there are still causing trouble.
- Spanner in the Works: It's unlikely that The Man Behind the Man expected a Treasure Hunter of all people to foil his plot to seize the Triforce for himself. Then again, said Treasure Hunter didn't even know that said Man even existed until the latter's mind slave was freed by his defeat and outright told the Treasure Hunter what was going on.
- Suicide Pact: According to Arices, the seven maidens have agreed to commit suicide if their mission somehow goes wrong. How or why they failed to uphold this goes unanswered.
- Sword of Plot Advancement: Not the Master Sword, which is just the Infinity +1 Sword here, but rather Link's own sword, received from his older friend in the beginning, tempered by the smiths at Lake Saria, as only with it can Link destroy the barrier keeping him out of the Hyrule Castle Tower.
- The Tower: The Parallel Tower, which was part of the
Working Title "Tower of the Triforce" as it is also where, well, the Triforce rests. Could have been why the title was changed for the release. - Treasure Hunter: Link and his friend, though it's All There in the Manual.
- True Sight: Pressing and holding both the X and L buttons causes Sprite Layer 1 to disappear, letting you find some secrets and get around. The ability is present in the Remodel, but the need for it is removed. All invisible secrets were edited to be revealed. Zelda's clue for climbing Parallel Tower is to use this ability when it says to refer to Clue 6.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: The older guy Link is with is not his uncle in this game, but someone he seems to be friends with, according to the ending where he recovers.
Perhaps they became friends while in the resistance together? - Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Why yes, Tamini, let the warlock who looks like a pig-demon tag along on your secret mission, even though Zelda already told you no. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Averted, since there are no sympathetic monsters, but Caprius takes the monster hatred up to eleven, joining Zelda's mission specifically to use the Triforce to wipe out the monsters plaguing their world. She even says in her Apocalyptic Log that she'd rather get killed trying to save her world, than by a monster.
- Where It All Began: Link winds up at the Triforce Shrine behind the Castle Site when he is sent to the Icy World after defeating Draegor. Guess where Link needs to go to return to the normal world?
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Draegor "disposes of" the maidens whose clues he has learned. Zelda was next until Link saved her, but as in vanilla she was Not Quite Saved Enough, though Parallel Worlds takes it up to eleven with the implication that Draegor killed Zelda in front of Link, rather than banishing her to Another Dimension as in vanilla.
