Koholint Island

"What a relief! I thought you'd never wake up! You were tossing and turning... What? Zelda? No, my name's Marin! You must still be feeling a little woozy. You are on Koholint Island!"

- Marin

Koholint Island is the setting for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. It is an illusory island that Link is stranded upon throughout the entire game, and only exists in the Wind Fish's dreams.

Koholint Island does not have any ruler or governing body. Despite this, rupees are still featured as a currency. Koholint Island's inhabitants consist of both humans and animals. There are two villages, Mabe Village and Animal Village, which consist of humans and animals respectively. Koholint Island features a variety of landscapes, including a beach, grasslands, a desert, forest, a mountain range, and caverns. The main landmark is the Wind Fish's Egg, which sits atop Tal Tal Mountain Range, and is at the highest point of Koholint Island.

History
In the opening, Link gets caught within a heavy storm, which destroys his ship. Link is washed away at sea and eventually washes ashore on Koholint Island. He is found by a young woman named Marin, who takes him to her home to recover. After this, Link goes to Toronbo Shores to retrieve his sword. There, he is greeted by an Owl, who tells him that he cannot leave the island unless he has awoken the Wind Fish. Link goes on a journey to retrieve the eight Siren Instruments so that he can awaken the Wind Fish. The Owl guides Link throughout his adventure.

As Link progresses, it becomes more apparent that Nightmares and other monsters have shown up ever since he arrived on Koholint Island. Their goal is to stop Link from awakening the Wind Fish, as this would prevent them from being able to conquer Koholint Island. A prophecy in the Southern Face Shrine (renamed the Ancient Ruins in the remake) tells that the entirely of Koholint Island will disappear once the Wind Fish wakes up.

In the Wind Fish's Egg, Link has to fight the final boss, the Shadows. Once Link defeats them, he climbs up a ladder to the Wind Fish and plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish. As a result, the Wind Fish wakes up, and Koholint Island and all of its inhabitants fade away. Link is somehow an exception to this, and wakes up holding onto the shipwreck as he happily watches the Wind Fish soar by. In the perfect ending, there is a seagull in the sky, implied to be Marin, who at one point said that her dream was to become a seagull and explore the rest of the world.