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List of The Legend of Zelda references in video games
The following is a list of references to The Legend of Zelda series in Nintendo and third-party video games.
Animal Crossing franchise[edit]
It has been requested that this section be rewritten. Reason: split into sections
The Triforce, Fused Shadow (called "Midna's Mask"), Majora's Mask, the "Makar Mask", the "Fi Mask", and the Master Sword make appearances as furniture or headgear. Additionally, when clicked the Triforce separates and reassembles, and the Master Sword plays the "secret found" jingle. The Hero's Clothes and Hero's Cap resemble Link's clothes and hat, respectively. Clothes resembling those worn by Anju and Kafei can also be obtained. When Katrina, the fortune teller, comes to town or is visited in the city, the Triforce design can be seen in her tent on the wall, and a triangular pattern on the rug. She also makes a reference to Nayru if the player character wears the Hero's Cap or Hero's Clothes.
In Animal Crossing and related versions, the sailor Gulliver often tells tales about his journeys at sea. In one story he references The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask by saying, "When I fought the sea snakes at Pinnacle Rock! Wait a minute... That wasn't me!".
A clothing item, the Bunny Hood appears in these games, but it may or may not be a cameo, due to it not resembling the Bunny Hood in Ocarina of Time at all.
In Animal Crossing, after one of Kapp'n's salty sea shanties, Kapp'n will sometimes say "Yar. Have ye ever spent a night in a Hyrlian prison?".
In Doubutsu no Mori, Doubutsu no Mori +, Animal Crossing, and Doubutsu no Mori e+, it is possible to collect Nintendo Entertainment System games as furniture items and actually play them. One of the games, The Legend of Zelda, is unused, but can only be obtained in Animal Crossing through the use of a cheating device.
Sometimes villagers talk about "a boy in a far off land land, who wears green, and knocks things out of the air with a boomerang". This is probably a reference to Link. When the player catches a loach, the in-game description reads, "I caught a loach! You don't suppose it's Hylian, do you?" When opening another villager's or player's drawer, it will sometimes say on-screen "You found 100 Rupees! But you can't use it here." This is a reference to the currency of the Zelda series.
To obtain the Master Sword replica in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, one must buy a fortune cookie for 2 Play Coins, and receive the fortune that reads the iconic quote, "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." They must take that fortune to Timmy or Tommy Nook, and then Timmy or Tommy will give the player the Master Sword replica in return.
Bush Whacker 2[edit]
The artstyle and premise of the game (cutting down bushes to collect items) is heavily inspired by the franchise, most notably The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Among many other references to pop culture, it includes a number of references to the franchise:
- Two of the customization items in the game, the Elf Hat and the Junior Bush Whacker Hat, bear a strong resemblance to Link's hat.
- A limited-time event in the game, The Lost Woods, was heavily modeled after the titular location in the franchise, particularly its appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The event also contained a good number of Zelda references, some examples included NPCs modeled after Link, Skull Kid and the Kokiri, an obtainable sword that was a dark version of the Master Sword and fairies that referenced Navi's infamous "Hey! Listen" quote.
- A sword that can be purchased during the game's annual Easter Event, the Easter Sword, is directly based on the Master Sword.
- In the Terrifying Traverse area, whenever the Princess blames the Bush Whacker for obstacles blocking the path, the Bush Whacker replies with "Excuse me, princess", with an increasing amount of "u"s used each time, a reference to Link's catchphrase in The Legend of Zelda animated series.
- Banquo's dialogue in the "Bombs for Banquo" quest in the Jungle Temple area makes numerous references to Link.
- Some obtainable pets, such as the Octoshrub and Fairy, reference creatures and enemies in the franchise.
Captain Rainbow[edit]
Crazy Tracy from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening makes an appearance in Captain Rainbow. A portrait of Link (along with Mario) is in her house, hung above her throne.
Donkey Kong franchise[edit]
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2[edit]
In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Link is ranked third place on a podium at Cranky's Video Game Heroes. Link has 19 of Cranky's Video Game Hero Coins, and if Diddy Kong has a higher number, he takes Link's place on the podium. Link has the same rank in Donkey Kong Land 2.
In the Game Boy Advance remake, Link has 50 of Cranky's Video Game Hero Coins and ranked second place on the podium. If Diddy has a higher number, Link is relocated to third place on the podium.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest sprite
Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA) sprite
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble![edit]
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, if the Kongs visit the General Store and ask Bazaar who owns the castle, he tells a short story of when Link visited the week before and asked the same question. Link did not have enough bear coins to pay for Bazaar's information on the castle, but Bazaar accepted a payment of 500 rupees instead. After being told the information, Link left, grumbling about the seashells being the wrong shape; this references the Secret Seashell sidequest in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening). This dialogue was removed from the Game Boy Advance remake.
Dragalia Lost[edit]
In Dragalia Lost, one of the adventurers, Nadine, uses a device called Clix that resembles a catlike version of the Sheikah Slate that first appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Additionally, in the Ch. 10 / 2-1 "Bygone Days" story event of the Main Campaign, the fairy Notte tries to get the party's attention by shouting "...HEY! LISTEN!" like Navi's voice clips in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
F-1 Race[edit]
In the Game Boy version of F-1 Race, Link makes a cameo in the transition to Course 5.
Final Fantasy[edit]
In most releases of the first Final Fantasy, a tombstone in ElfLand reads "Here lies Link." The Elves somewhat resemble Link, with green clothing and pointy ears. In the North American NES and European PlayStation localizations, this was altered to reference Erdrick from Dragon Quest instead. Incidentally, a reference to the same character was present on a tombstone in the Japanese Disk System version of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.[1]
Kirby franchise[edit]
In many Kirby games, starting with Kirby's Adventure, Kirby has the Sword ability, where he wears a green hat similar to Link's starting with Kirby Super Star. Some of Sword Kirby's maneuvers are shared with Link, such as Sword Beam and later Spin Slash.
In one of Kirby Super Star's games, The Great Cave Offensive, the Triforce is one of the treasures that Kirby can collect. HAL Laboratory included it and other Nintendo-related cameos as a way of thanking Nintendo for putting Kirby in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.[2]
In Kirby: Canvas Curse, during the Paint Panic minigame, a Triforce is one of many possible images drawn by Paint Roller.
Mario franchise[edit]
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars[edit]
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Link rests in the Rose Town inn. Instead of waking up when Mario speaks to him, the "secret revealed" melody from The Legend of Zelda games plays instead.
Mario Artist: Paint Studio[edit]
In Mario Artist: Paint Studio, the player can add artwork of various Nintendo characters on a canvas. This includes 21 characters from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, in order from top to bottom:
Tetris franchise[edit]
Tetris (Nintendo Entertainment System)[edit]
In Tetris, after completing Level 9, the results screen shows Link is playing the flute in a band with other Nintendo characters, including Donkey Kong, Bowser, Pit, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Samus Aran. Link appears when the player has completed height 1 of Level 9 in Game B.
Tetris DS[edit]
In Tetris DS, there are several themes based on first-party NES titles, one of which is based on the first The Legend of Zelda.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension[edit]
In There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, after Mr. Glitch turnes The Legend of Zelda-inspired game "Legend of the Secret" into a free2play, the player must pay 150 coins for an alarm clock to wake the hero, which turns out to a Navi-ish fairy who annoyingly repeats, "hey, hey, listen, listen!"
World of Warcraft[edit]
A quest in World of Warcraft references The Legend of Zelda series. There is a gnome named Linken, who has the same green tunic as Link. He repeats well known lines from The Legend of Zelda games such as "Its a secret to everyone."
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- ^ GlitterBerri (May 10, 2011). Retranslation. GlitterBerri's Game Translations. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ Kirby's 20th Anniversary - Sneak Peek at Kirby secrets and tips (Nintendo.com)
