List of The Legend of Zelda references on the Internet

The following is a list of notable internet references, usually memes, of The Legend of Zelda series.

Memes

I am Error

Error saying his iconic phrase, "I am Error".

"I am Error" is a famous line that was spoken by Error in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Background information

Due to the absurdity of the quote, many gamers believed it to be a mistranslation, a misspelling, or an actual error message. This has been proven false because Error has the same name in the original Japanese Family Computer Disk System release. However, a similar character, Bagu, has a mistranslated name, as his original Japanese name transliterates to "bug". The reason many believe that Error's name was a mistake is because at the time, many games had incorrect spelling and translations, with The Legend of Zelda being a notable example.

Another incorrect notion is that Error's intended name was "Errol", judging how the L and R sounds in most languages translate to a single sound roughly between them in Japanese, which causes many translation problems when they are mixed up due to a lack of knowledge of other languages.

While Nintendo has not confirmed this, Error and Bagu's names are widely believed to have originated from an in-joke between developers. This means that their names would respectively refer to an error message and a software bug. Ironically, the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine stated in a feature that Bagu's name was mistranslated instead of Error's.

In pop culture

The E3 2014 and E3 2019 technical difficulties screen, based on the "I am Error" phrase.

"I am Error" is one of the earlier internet memes, with its earliest use dating back to the early 2000s. Some time after "All your base are belong to us" became a widespread meme, a number of memes about poor English translations in games became viral, including "I am Error".

Despite being a minor character, Error and his phrase "I am Error" are mentioned in several media outlets. Error was included in VideoGamer's list of "oddest character names in games", and GamesRadar+ included his "I am Error" line in a list of the 40 most repeated quotes. GameSpot mentioned the phrase in an article where they discussed poor translation in video games, and misinterpreted Error's name as a 'translation oddity'. IGN wrote a list of worst in-game quotes and added "I am Error" at number two. A Nintendo Life review for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest also noted "an 'I AM ERROR'-esque script", likening the game's garbled translation to the phrase.

There have been a few times where Nintendo has acknowledged the "I am Error" quote. From around 2012-2015, Nintendo of UK's 404 page read "I AM ERROR", accompanied by an image of Error. At E3 2014, when Nintendo Treehouse's presentation of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U experienced some technical difficulties, they displayed an notice based on the "I am Error" quote. During E3 2019 the same notice appeared when there was a power outage during Nintendo's Treehouse live stream on June 12, 2019.

Video games

"I am Error" has been referenced in a couple of video games:

• Super Paper Mario (2007) - Immediately prior to the boss battle against Fracktail, it gets hacked and utters several confused lines, including "I AM ERROR. PRESS ANY KEY TO RESTART."
• Fossil Fighters: Champions (2010) - The line is said by a character at one point
• Time Fcuk (2009) and The Binding of Isaac (2011) - The quote is referenced in both of Edmund McMillen's games.
• Guacamelee! and Zeno Clash II (2013) - While unrelated, both games have "I AM ERROR" as the title for an achievement.
• Splatoon 2 (2017) - Pearl says "I AM ERROR" when her Team Retro loses the Splatfest to Marina's Team Modern.

References

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