The Legend of Zelda is one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history, and one of the most successful. Although each game is typically unrelated to the last, there are common elements in each that allow a sense of continuity and familiarity in each title, including characters like Link, Zelda, and Ganon, locations like the Temple of Time and races like the Gerudo, Zora, and Goron. This allows each of the nineteen games, released over close to forty years, to feel nostalgic and understandable for players who are already familiar with the series.
Likely because of the series’ long lifespan, however, there are many, many idiosyncrasies and quirks which have been built up over time as sort of inside jokes or easter eggs for fans to enjoy. Some of these are simply faults in translation, such as the infamous “I AM ERROR” dialogue or “It’s a secret to everybody.” Others are intentionally repeated throughout games, such as the famous, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this" quote which often occurs before Link picks up his first weapon. And yet others are just completely bizarre occurrences that no one can ever really explain, like the group of killer chickens that will attack you if you swing a sword at one of their brethren.
The following twenty comics will look at some of the best of these inside jokes throughout the series, with a few random choices created purely from the artists own imagination thrown in there for comedic value. If you have no idea about The Legend of Zelda and its tropes then this article will probably make little sense to you; but if you’re a true fan you’re bound to love it. Keep reading to find out more!
20 The Other Woman
Poor Saria has to be one of the most pathetic characters in the series, as she’s constantly being sidelined all throughout the Ocarina of Time game. Link and her are best friends at the beginning of the game, and she even sticks up for him against the town bullies. Saria is wise beyond her years, and as a parting gift, she gives Link the Fairy Ocarina knowing that she won’t see him again for years.
But as soon as Link leaves the Kokiri Forest, Saria is pretty much immediately forgotten about. Link makes his way to Hyrule Town to meet Zelda, and she gives him the Ocarina of Time. This superior instrument replaces the Fairy Ocarina in the inventory, and Saria’s gift is never seen again. So much for best friends!
19 Map Of My Heart
Maps are an integral and useful part of any Legend of Zelda game, especially when it comes to the intricate and detailed dungeons, some of which can transform and change over time. But one has to question how these maps were created in the first place, and just why they were hidden from the game world.
The bizarre nature of this trope is looked at in this comic, which explores why Lord Jabu Jabu has a map of his own innards resting inside him. At the end of the day, I guess maps - like a health bar or a stamina wheel - are just one of those things that have to appear in the game to improve the player experience, even if they’re never fully explained.
18 Gerudoh My God
The Gerudo are a pretty interesting race in the Legend of Zelda series, and most of their intrigue comes from the fact that very little is known about them. They first appeared in Ocarina of Time, as an answer to the question of just where Ganondorf comes from and why he looks so different from the Hylian's in the game.
As it turns out, the Gerudo are an all-female society who only produce one male offspring every one hundred years - in this case, Ganondorf himself. It’s suggested later on in the series that Gerudo can and do reproduce with other Hylians to produce female offspring, but it’s still unknown how the male members of the tribe are born. Link seems pretty confused about it as well.
17 Hey, Listen!
Navi was a good friend and a welcome travelling companion, and I totally missed her when she left at the end of Ocarina of Time. Link clearly did too, because he spent the whole of Majora’s Mask looking for his fairy friend, apparently to no avail.
But I don’t think I’m the only one who was incredibly annoyed with Navi when she actually appeared in the game. Even though she sometimes had some interesting things to say, and her hints could be crucial to defeating certain bosses, her constant refrain of “Hey, listen!” got super annoying within probably the first few hours of the game. This comic shows us that Link apparently feels the same way, because he doesn’t do too good of a job at keeping his cool on what’s probably the hundredth time Navi harasses him.
16 The Princess And The Frog
Princess Zelda has a tendency to make some pretty high demands, especially because in some of these games she’s never even met Link before asking him to save her life and an entire continent (Ocarina of Time Zelda, we’re looking at you). So it seems totally in character for her to ask Link to chow down on a frog to prove his love for her.
Equally, it’s pretty on point for Link to actually go ahead and eat the frog as requested. Throughout Breath of the Wild, Link eats not only the miniature croaking reptiles, but also dragonflies, moths, snails, and a bunch of miscellaneous monster parts I wouldn’t put anywhere near my mouth. Zelda might have thought she was making a big request, but given that Link pretty much eats frogs for breakfast I think he was the one who really had the last laugh.
15 Hair Are You Going?
It took me a while to figure this comic out, but now that I get it I find it kind of hilarious. Think of this comic as Zelda recreating a teen comedy where the main character is trying to get a makeover to impress the cute guy at school - she changes her hair in every frame and pretty much every game, ranging from blonde to brunette to redhead, and swapping her clothes at will.
But, when Link decides to switch things up a bit and change his hair colour - like when he did in Twilight Princess - Zelda doesn’t seem to happy about it. It seems like she can overlook a lot of physical oddities - elf ears for one, and left-handedness for another - but brown hair is just one step too far.
14 The Cuckoo Or The Egg?
Chickens, or Cuckoos as they’re often called in The Legend of Zelda, are a recurring theme throughout the franchise that almost always spell trouble for Link. Even though they look innocent enough, Cuckoos are actually vicious murder machines, and if Link treats just one Cuckoo out of line then they’ll call their entire extended family to come and attack him.
Link probably should have remembered all the bad times when he agreed to accept the Pocket Egg back in Ocarina of Time. The Pocket Egg is a key item to progress in the game which sparks the whole trading quest eventually leading to the fabled Biggoron’s Sword, but it still involves dealing with far too many Cuckoos for my taste. Don’t trust them, Link!
13 The Best Tasting Water In Hyrule
As far as I know, the water in Zora’s Domain can’t actually be drunk this easily - although like all water in Ocarina of Time, Link can scoop up some water in his Bottle to consume later on. But it does totally seem like something Link would do after a hard day getting to the town to reach down and drink some of the free flowing water which makes up the Zora homeland.
This comic raises the pretty interesting question though of just how dirty that water is. Apart from the fact that each Zora must have sneakily peed in the water at one point or another, King Zora XVI is never even seen standing up in the game, and so is 100% just letting his waste flow down to the rest of the kingdom. Gross.
12 Unappreciation Is Ugly
Poor Link. Every single game, he goes to all the trouble of finding Zelda, defeating Ganon, and saving Hyrule from eternal damnation. He travels through multiple lands, defeats dozens of dungeons and shrines and meets hundreds of people along the way.
And yet, even with all that work, it’s never his name in the title! When you think about it, Link isn’t really recognized in any of the games he stars in, either. In Ocarina of Time, there’s a big party to celebrate Ganon’s defeat, but Link’s long gone by then; and in Twilight Princess he doesn’t even get any recognition from anyone for his deeds. Granted, Link doesn’t speak much, so maybe it’s his own fault no one knows about what he’s done. Stand up for yourself, Link!
11 You Get A Rupee! And You Get A Rupee!
Of all the weird inconsistencies in The Legend of Zelda, the placement of rupees has to be one of the biggest. There must be a lot of people around Hyrule with too much money on their hands and no bank to put it in, because these Rupees end up being hidden in jars, rocks, acorns and an assortment of other objects to stay out of sight.
Of course, Link isn’t going to take no for an answer, and is happy to pick up and destroy any object lingering around that may be home to Rupees. Definitely, the weirdest place one has to find a Rupee is under certain chairs in The Wind Waker, and this comic shows us exactly how and why they’ve ended up there.
10 Quit Horsing Around
Poor Epona. The faithful steed, given to Link by Malon in Ocarina of Time and appearing in several games since, is trained to come at a moment’s notice and hear Link’s song from miles away.
But what will become of her after Link is done saving the world and defeating the dreaded Ganon? Presumably, he’ll be living a life of luxury off with Princess Zelda, and the need for a horse to gallop around Hyrule will be no more. Let’s just tell everyone that Epona’s gone to a nice old lady in a nice farm far far away from Hyrule where she’ll run around after butterflies and eat all the carrots she wants. I’m sure it’s a nicer thought than the reality.
9 A Bad First Impression
This comic definitely takes some artistic liberties with the game, and its circumstances are entirely imagined, but it's funny and cute enough that we wanted to include it anyway. This takes place in Ocarina of Time when Link is trying to sneak into Hyrule Castle to meet Princess Zelda for the first time, and he has to make his way past the guards undetected in order to reach her.
Link goes to a lot of trouble to look presentable for the princess, but at the end of the day all of his efforts were in vain as he decided to drop a bomb (literally) and ruin all his hard work. The ability to stain and destroy clothes didn't actually come about until Breath of The Wild close to twenty years later, but it’s funny to imagine these situations in real life contexts anyway.
8 The Reality Of Iron Boots
Iron Boots have appeared in a few different games in the series by now, like Twilight Princess where they’re used to slow down rolling Goron’s. In most of their appearances though, they’re found in icy terrains and are used to weigh Link down against strong winds and prevent him from slipping on ice.
More realistically though, if someone were to put on boots like this, I think the results would be something like what we can see in the comic. In Twilight Princess, wearing Iron Boots on ice actually does cause the ice to melt and Link to drown, so it looks like this comic artist wasn’t too far off what Nintendo decided the truth to be a decade after the Iron Boots were first introduced.
7 Occupational Hazards
Having the power to control time really is a pretty cool ability, and we can imagine it coming in pretty useful in all sorts of situations. Tests would be one obvious example, as you could always check out the questions, then go back in time to study the answers to them and ace every exam; slips of the tongue would be another one.
But controlling time could also be used just to irritate your friends. If you really wanted to get on someone’s nerves, changing daytime to nighttime just when everyone settles down for a picnic is definitely a successful way to do it. Otherwise, wait for everyone to get to the beach and then make the sun go down, or make it blaze sunlight just when people are falling asleep. You’ll lose all your friends in no time!
6 Don’t Rain On My Parade
Link’s Ocarina of Time has many abilities, and changing the time of day is only one of them. Link is also capable of making it rain (no, that’s not a euphemism), which is useful in the game for progressing the plot, grabbing Pieces of Heart, and summoning fairies almost on command.
Presumably, though, there’s also some more mischievous things that someone could get up to with the Song of Storms. Making a rainstorm occur at will is a pretty convenient thing to be able to do, especially if you’re sick of school and want a snow day. Otherwise, using the rain to ruin your arch enemies big moment is a pretty good alternative to throwing eggs or sabotaging their outfit. Not gonna lie, I find it pretty hard to feel bad for Ganon even with all this happening to him.
5 Questioning His Identit
Poor Link. It must be a hard life being come on to by pretty much every female character in the history of the Legend of Zelda series. Take Ocarina of Time, for instance: Link is flirted with by Saria, Malon, Impa and a bunch of other characters, many of whom seem to be decades older than him.
And then there’s Zelda. Link and Zelda seem predestined for a relationship when they first meet, but she disappears for a while and it seems they’re not a fan of long distance relationships. Around that time, Sheik shows up, a man with a very feminine figure and a voice that sounds exactly like Zelda. Is it any wonder that the poor kid gets confused about who he’s attracted to?
4 Remember The Name
If you really want to annoy a The Legend of Zelda fan, just casually mention the fact that you love the franchise and the main character in his green tunic, Zelda! And for even more dramatic effect, mention how much you love Digimon and its main character Pikachu. You’ll be sure to piss any Nintendo fanboy right off.
Seriously though, it's crazy how in 2017 people still haven't figured out that Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda even without his name actually being Zelda. It’s probably a bit too late now for a name change of the entire franchise, but I guess if Nintendo finally gave fans that long-awaited game with Zelda as the main character people might be less confused. Or more confused. Who knows?
3 Sprouting Up Daisies
The Deku Tree Sprout appears in the second half of Ocarina of Time, after the Great Deku Tree has officially photosynthesized its last breath. The offspring of that forest spirit, the Deku Tree Sprout has some of its father's memories, and even though it looks cute and innocent enough it's these memories which really have the ability to mess up poor Link, who probably still has the mind of a child even if he’s physically matured.
In one short monologue, the Deku Tree Sprout lets you know that your mother brought you to his father in a time of war (don’t ask me why she’d bring her orphan son to a tree) before dying of her injuries shortly after, leaving you to be raised by a plant. How’s that for a backstory?
2 The Best Use For Power Bracelets
Even though this comic is kinda silly and definitely unrelated to most of the games in the franchise, I kind of love the idea of all the different variations of Link - Young Link, Adult Link, Toon Link, 8-Bit Link and more - hanging out together and pranking each other as only brothers can.
The Hyrule Warriors version of Link has a pretty cool scarf with a Triforce design that was commented on a lot by fans when it was first revealed, and it seems as though the other Link’s are pretty jealous of it as well. Luckily, Toon Link has the Power Bracelets from Wind Waker on his side, and can grab the scarf without a moment's notice - even if he is kind of cheating to get it. It just goes to show that looks can be deceiving!
1 The Origin Of Heart Containers
What exactly is a Heart Container, anyway? The objects are scattered around Hyrule and often require some feat of courage or strength to obtain, and in return, they’ll enhance Link’s health and make him stronger. However, it’s unclear exactly what’s obtained in the Containers - they look like a piece of jewelry with their diamond casing and blood red centre, but who knows if they’re organic or man-made.
Well, wonder no more, because this comic shows us exactly how Link obtains these Heart Containers - and it’s a lot more... brutal. Heart Containers may enhance his strength, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Link’s mental health deteriorated severely after going through this kind of ordeal at a young age.