The Legend Of Zelda - General Thread

x7 That is Skyward Sword Impa erasure, she got to do probably as much as the Champions did.

I've never played SS. What all did Impah do in that one?

In Skyward Sword Impa is sent forward in time on a mission from the then living Goddess Hylia to protect her (the Goddess's) mortal incarnation, a mission which she is completely successful at, rescuing Zelda from Ghirahim before Link even meets him and taking her to the sacred springs so that she can regain memories of her past life. After this she brings Zelda back to the past, destroying the Lanayru Gate of Time to prevent Ghirahim from following them, so that Zelda can enshrine herself at the Temple of Hylia in order to preserve the seal on Demise. Impa then stays at the Temple of Hylia, later known as the Sealed Temple, for centuries guarding the chamber that Zelda sealed herself in and, when the "present" finally comes around, becomes a cryptic mentor for Link and Groose.

Something else that probably adds to the image of Impa's significance is that the first Hyrule Warriors had its own version of her as one of the central cast, and she was the only other character alongside Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf in being a new Hyrule Warriors-specific version that was sort of a composite of previous 3D Impas.

I wouldn't mind an Oracle-style Impa being playable. She's a Big Fun type character.

You know, Impa and Purah don't interact directly in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but I really liked the implication that Impa is as straightlaced and dutiful as she is partly as a reaction to her reckless mad scientist of an older sister. Makes me wonder if every Impa has an equivalent Purah, or at least some sort of older sibling.

x4 I see, but from the sound of things, almost all of that happens offscreen, doesn't it? Whereas with the Champions and New Champions, you actually get to see their heroics.

Edited by MiinU on Mar 15th 2024 at 12:49:47 PM

I would like to see Ralph in Hyrule Warriors. The guy was willing to kill his own ancestor Queen Ambi to stop Veran, fully aware of what would happen to him if he was successful. I could see you having to protect the Veran possessed Queen Ambi from Ralph.

Edited by neoamon on Mar 15th 2024 at 9:12:23 AM

That would be awesome! I feel like Cia was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Veran.

Considering Ralph did a bad hurricane spin when he was trying to do a standard spin attack while training with Link in the Ages credits scenes, I could see Ralph being someone whose animations make him look like he can't fight even as he's mowing down hundreds of mooks.

How does the full list of non-Triforce characters who appear in multiple mainline games go? (Other than Beddle and Impa being tied for first, Dampe being third, and Tingle being fourth)

Edited by Smasher on Mar 15th 2024 at 10:34:39 AM

Maybe Talon and Malon? Ocarina, Oracle of Seasons, Minish Cap. Plus Link's Awakening.

Also the Romani sisters and the Milk Bartender, sort of.

It depends if Terminia is a real country or some kind of alternate universe or something. If the former, Romani and the bartender count as Malon and Talon. If they latter, they don't.

Edited by Smasher on Mar 15th 2024 at 10:59:21 AM

My personal philosophy is that the games themselves have the final say. Anything stated in the manual, developer interviews or hastily written "official sources" like the ever-shifting timeline are situationally canon at the best of times.

So no, I don't think Termina disappeared at the end of Majora's Mask.

So Termina is real, but does it exist as a neighboring country or an AU that Link and Skull Kid found their way into?

It exists as an AU, as per the devs take on it.

Then in that case I can concider Romani to be Malon and the bartender to be Talon.

That gives the most likely wife for OOT Link and her Mario-resembling father five mainline appearances, tying them with Tingle. If you don't, that makes four appearances.

Also, looking further Beedle has 7 game appearances while Impa has 9. I guess the old woman in the original doesn't count because she's identified as Impa in the manual and her role the Oracle games is basically the same so it's counted as one appearnce?

Edited by Smasher on Mar 15th 2024 at 12:48:44 PM

Well no, mainly because in the word of God they are separate from who they are based on as characters, like Romani is not Malon outside of appearance and the same goes to every one else in Termina.

Romani isn't an alternate version of Malon? So I guess we can chalk sharing a model to the game devs being lazy or rushed.

Neither.

Then why?

• Impa: Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. Those are the "mainline games she physically appeared in" but of course her first appearance was in the manual of The Legend of Zelda (1986) and she was mentioned in both the manual and opening narration of The Adventure of Link. There's also Impaz from Twilight Princess, who I didn't count because technically her name is Impaz, with a z. So I counted 7 but arguably she has as many as 10.

• Beedle: The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. Also 7, but unambiguously so.

• Dampé: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch). 6.

• Tingle: Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap. 5.

• Koume and Kotake (two characters, but obviously they always appear in the same games): Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Tears of the Kingdom (not acknowledged in dialogue, but their sashes do have their names written on them, which I'm willing to count). 5.

• Syrup the Witch: A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, The Minish Cap. 5. You could argue that the witch in A Link Between Worlds is meant to be her as well, but she's just labelled as "Witch" by the nametag on her dialogue boxes and in fact at one point is implied to be named Maple, the name of a different witch character, so I'm still saying Syrup has 5 appearances.

• Talon and Malon (again, they always appear in the same games): Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap. I am not counting Tarin, Marin, Mr. Barten, Romani, Cremia, or the Milk Barkeeper from A Link Between Worlds, I'm calling this one at 4.

• The Carpenters (the individuals aren't always named but this is still a specific group of carpenters not a general profession): Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, The Minish Cap. 4.

• Biggoron: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, The Minish Cap. 4.

When we get down to 3 there are a bunch of characters who appeared in both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and then one out of Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, and The Minish Cap. This is a consistent pattern and there are so many examples that I don't feel like listing them all, but examples of characters who hit three appearances without following this exact pattern are:

• Maple: Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, A Link to the Past & Four Swords (specifically the A Link to the Past part, she isn't in Four Swords, but she also wasn't in the SNES A Link to the Past). 3, but the witch in A Link Between Worlds is maybe an older version of her, which would bring her up to 4.

• Stockwell: Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, The Minish Cap. 3.

• Din, Nayru, Farore: Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, The Minish Cap. 3, though in the case of Din and Nayru each will only show up in the other's game when it's the second in a pair of linked games.

• Niko: The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks. 3, but he's notable for being literally the same guy across three games. Those 6 Dampé appearances are 6 completely different Dampés (actually 7 Dampés, there are 2 Dampés in A Link Between Worlds), but there is just one Niko, and he has shown up 3 times.

• Vaati: Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap. 3. Yeah we all knew about this one.

• The Street Merchant: A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes. 3. There are a lot of A Link Between Worlds characters based on A Link to the Past characters, and there are a lot of Tri Force Heroes characters based on A Link Between Worlds characters, but oddly enough this guy is the only throughline between all 3.

• The toilet hand: Okay actually I'm conflicted about counting this one because Phoeni from Skyward Sword has a very distinct appearance from the toilet hands in Majora's Mask and Oracle of Ages, and she has a name that I would not retroactively apply to her predecessors. This is enough of a distinction that by the rules I've generally been following I would not count these as 3 appearances of the same character... but I'm willing to bend my rules for the specific purposes of counting the hand that emerges from toilets as a recurring character in The Legend of Zelda series.

When we get down to 2 it ceases to be notable at all. Like, there are a lot of fun characters who only have 2 appearances in the series, but there are so many characters that appear only in both Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, or only in both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, or only in both The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, or only in both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, or only in both A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds, or only in both A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes, or... and this is by far the biggest category... only in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom... the fact of having 2 appearances is too common to be considered a notable trait at all.

Edited by BOOXMOWO on Mar 16th 2024 at 9:31:52 AM

I always liked that the witch in ALBW was implied to be an elderly Maple who has mastered her craft, and has taken an apprentice of her own in turn.

@Smasher if you don't know about Majora's mask troubled development here's a quick rundown: the game was a challenge by Miyamoto to Aonuma to make a game with in a year, to help them out they reused and modified models of OOT characters so that's why they look the same, the moon destroying the world was made by a nightmare of Aonuma when he was taking a nap in the office he then used this nightmare for the three day cycle of the game and finally the main reason why it was darker then the rest of the series was thanks to the horrid crunch of development affecting everybody.

Thank you! I was wondering how you counted Impa since she's in the original but is only identified as such in the manual.

So it was rushed?

Edited by Smasher on Mar 16th 2024 at 1:38:58 PM