The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening/Characters

These are the characters appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Despite its title, Princess Zelda is not found in this game, although she is mentioned near the beginning of the game by Marin.

Main characters

Link

After defeating Ganon in A Link to the Past, Link goes on a sea voyage, where he gets shipwrecked and washes up on the shore of the mysterious Koholint Island. He is found unconscious by Marin, who takes him back to her house in Mabe Village. During his stay on Koholint, Link becomes aware that the only way to leave the island is to wake the mystical Wind Fish, a creature with the apparent power to return him to Hyrule. Along the way, he encounters a variety of characters, explores dungeons, battles creatures, and collects instruments which he uses to play a song for the Wind Fish who sleeps on a mountain peak. When Link plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish with all eight instruments, he can enter the giant egg atop Mt. Tamaranch, where the Wind Fish slumbers. There he must face the final Nightmare, shadowy apparitions which include umbral visions of foes from Link's past. After he defeats this nightmare, it is revealed that the entire island is merely a dream of the Wind Fish—possibly an allegory of Link's own state of unconsciousness, in which he is reminded both of his worst enemies and what he likes. By playing the instruments again, Link ends the dream, and both he and the Wind Fish are returned to the waking world.

Wind Fish

The Wind Fish (かぜのさかな, Kaze no Sakana) is a whale-like creature that sleeps in a giant egg nestled in the crater at the top of Mt. Tamaranch on Koholint Island. The Wind Fish's egg bears a resemblance to a Yoshi Egg from the Mario games, and can only be entered by playing the Ballad of the Wind Fish. When Link wakes the Wind Fish at the end of the game, the island vanishes, leaving Link floating in the sea and watching the Wind Fish fly away. The owl makes it clear that the island has disappeared because it was all the dream of the Wind Fish; once he is awoken, it ceases to exist.

An owl statue outside the Moblin's Cave in Link's Awakening reads: "The Wind Fish in name only, for it is neither."

The Wind Fish makes a cameo appearance in Kirby Air Ride, flying around on the Frozen Hills stage. In Majora's Mask, Link rehearses a song titled Ballad of the Wind Fish, although the melody doesn't bear any similarity to the Link's Awakening version.

Marin

Marin (マリン, Marin) is a girl who saves Link in the opening sequence. As the game advances, she starts showing much fondness for Link, and soon develops a bit of a crush on him.

As the game begins, Link awakens in Marin's house after washing ashore on Koholint Island. A groggy Link mistakes Marin for Princess Zelda due to their physical similarities.

As the game progresses, Marin teaches Link his first Ocarina song, "The Ballad of the Wind Fish", not to be confused with the song of the same name in Majora's Mask. At one point, she also follows Link about in order to help wake a sleeping walrus. This part of the game is notable for comical moments such as when the two fall down a well and when she grabs the operator of the trendy game using his mechanical crane. Later, she is kidnapped by monsters and stranded on a broken bridge. Link saves her using his hookshot.

In a secret reward ending, if a player completes the game without losing a life, Marin is granted her wish and becomes a seagull so that she can fly to distant lands and sing to bring joy to others, but only in the original version of the game, or when playing the DX version on an original GameBoy. The DX version carries a slightly different ending, containing a face-portrait of her, followed up by the original secret ending.

Marin and her father Tarin bear a striking physical resemblance to Malon and Talon from Ocarina of Time.

Marin appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a Trophy awarded for unlocking every character and level.

Shadow Nightmares

Main article: Nightmares

The Wind Fish's nightmares are dreams that corrupt the entirety of Koholint Island. The nightmares appear to Link in a physical form known as DethI (デスアイ, Desu Ai) to fight him as the final boss. Dethl fights Link in the form of several of Link's previous enemies such as Ganon and Agahnim before his ultimate defeat at Link's hands.

Secondary Characters

Madam MeowMeow and BowWow

Madam MeowMeow (マダムニゃンニゃン, Madamu Nian Nian) is a woman in Mabe Village who owns a dog. The dog BowWow, who is a Chain Chomp found in the Super Mario Bros. series, is kidnapped by the Moblins of the Mysterious Forest, and Link rescues him. Madam MeowMeow lets Link take it for a walk, and BowWow helps Link enter the swamp dungeon, Bottle Grotto, by eating the flowers blocking his entrance.

Mr. Write

Mr. Write (おじさんライト, Ojisan Raito) is a scholar who lives in a house in the northern part of the Mysterious Forest. His appearance is inspired by the similarly-named Dr. Wright, a green-haired computer assistant who would sometimes appear in the SNES version of SimCity and SimCity 64, who in turn is named after SimCity designer Will Wright. His name is also a pun on the phrase "Mr. Right."

He also appeared in Oracle of Seasons (although not named) and The Minish Cap featured a parody of him, Dr. Left.

To add a comedic flair, Mr. Write writes a love letter to an unknown admirer whom he too "loves." She is actually Christine (a goat) from Animal Village and gives Mr. Write a picture of Princess Peach from the notable Mario series. He believes 'Peach' to be his admirer.

The music heard in both Mr. Write's and Christine's houses is Dr. Wright's theme.

Owl

The wise talking owl arrives at certain points in the game to provide hints and backstory. He believes in a prophecy that says Link will wake the Wind Fish. Although he is not provided a name in this game, he would be the inspiration for a similar character, named Kaepora Gaebora, who appears in the next installment of the Zelda series: Ocarina of Time. He explains the nature of the island and the nightmares and directs Link towards his ultimate goal, though Link doesn't realize the reason behind all that until the game's ending. At that point it is revealed that the owl is actually a part of the Wind Fish's spirit and the guardian of his dream world. He vanishes when the Wind Fish "awakens" in the dream.

Richard

Richard (リチゃード, Richiyādo) is a prince who lives in a villa filled with frogs in Pothole Field. His appearance is inspired by himself in a Game Boy title only released in Japan, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (translated as For the Frog the Bell Tolls). The music played in his villa is a remixed version of the Japanese title's main theme. "Kaeru" is Japanese for "Frog", which explains the frogs in his house.

As Link approaches the gate of Kanalet Castle in the color version, the Camera Mouse and Richard both come to see him, and the Camera Mouse takes a picture of Link and Richard striking their poses in front of the gate.

In both versions, Richard makes a deal with Link, passing on the Slime Key after Link retrieves Richard's Golden Leaves inside Kanalet Castle.

Tarin

Tarin (タリン, Tarin) is the father of Marin. He has an uncanny resemblance to Mario and shares his love of mushrooms. At the beginning of the game, Tarin gives Link his (Link's) shield when he wakes up from his state of temporary unconsciousness. He is often seen getting himself into wacky situations on his expeditions into Koholint Island's forests. Throughout the course of the game, a magic mushroom he eats transforms him into a mischievous raccoon (which may be a reference to the Tanooki Suit worn by Mario in Super Mario Bros. 3) who hides important items from Link which he takes after being cured to be a dream, and later on gets stung by bees while poking at their honeycomb with a stick. He can sometimes be found in bed at his house in Mabe Village recuperating from these events shortly after they occur. Near the end of the game you see a scene of him holding yet another mushroom/toadstool, indicating that he certainly does not learn from his (mis)adventures.

A character similar to Tarin appears in Ocarina of Time under the name Talon, who is the father of Malon, a character resembling Tarin's daughter Marin in Link's Awakening.

Ulrira

Ulrira (うるりら, Ururira) is the oldest resident of Mabe Village. Due to his shy nature, Ulrira can only be contacted from a telephone booth. He seems to know a bit about everything, and Link can get hints to proceed with the game by calling Ulrira from the various telephone booths on Koholint Island. In the DX version, if Link approaches his house window and presses A, the camera mouse will show up to take a picture of Ulrira talking on the phone.