Happy 30th anniversary, Legend of Zelda! Nintendo released the game that started the legend on February 21, 1986 in Japan, so I’m here to entertain (and quite possibly annoy) everyone with my five favorite quotes from the Zelda franchise. And not just the games. Nope, not even the old cartoon is safe. With that in mind, it’s dangerous to go alone. Read this:
5. “Shadow Temple… Here is gathered Hyrule’s bloody history of greed and hatred…” Inscription (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
The one sentence says it all. The Zelda series is no stranger to dark themes, and the Shadow Temple is the embodiment of that darkness that threatens to corrode and destroy the light. Hyrule is often thought of as a wonderful, glorious nation. Yet Hyrule is cursed with a never-ending cycle of war and evil, and all of that evil comes together in one place at the Shadow Temple. At the head of the graveyard where the royal family rests, it stands as a cruel reminder that good will never truly win, for evil shall always return.
4. “Dodongo dislikes smoke.” – Old Man (The Legend of Zelda)
Out of all the quotes from the game I could have chosen, why this one? It’s a secret to everybody. Just kidding. It was a choice between the dodongo and the secret. I chose the dodongo because, cliche as it is, it’s slightly more well-known, I think, and easier to use as a reference in casual conversation. Nintendo Power magazine once had a section where Dodongo disliked (insert subject here). It was paired with “a winner is (insert subject here).” I’m also sorely tempted to change my Facebook name to “Dodongo dis” and then click like on everything so it will say “Dodongo dis likes this.”
3. “Well excuuuuse me, princess!” – Link (The Legend of Zelda Cartoon)
See? Told you the show wasn’t safe. Do I really need to explain why this quote is on here? Besides the CDi games, which I’m intentionally not covering in this list because it’d just end up being “dinner”, this is Link’s one voice-acted role. And this one line is not only what the cartoon Link is known for, it’s why we remember there even was a cartoon in the first place (again, much like “dinner” for the CDi games). This one quote supports an entire branch of the Zelda franchise all on its own, for all the wrong reasons. And I can’t get enough of it.
2. “Tell me… do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls? They say it’s the only time when our world intersects with theirs. The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world.” – Rusl (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
Play all the way through Twilight Princess, then go back and read that quote again, and you’ll realize how perfectly it describes the mood and story of the entire game. and, eerily enough, it doesn’t just apply to the game. People’s moods are sometimes affected by things like weather and time of day because of the charge of particles in the air and atmosphere. Regardless of the reason, many things said in games have meaning in the real world. Which brings me to number one:
1. “That’s the stone mask, isn’t it? That is a fine mask. It is filled with an appreciation for things that go unnoticed.” – Happy Mask Salesman (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask)
A chill runs down my spine every time I think of this quote. The things that go unnoticed. The things we forget about or see as insignificant, unimportant. If they were suddenly gone one day, would we miss them? Would we regret casting them aside and ignoring them? Everything we have, we have because we either want or need them. Take some time to appreciate the things you may have forgotten about, because at some point in time, you cared that they were there.
That’s it. That’s my list. There are tons of lines from all the Zelda games that mean something to people; far too many to make a single list out of. Didn’t see your favorite here? Add it in the comments and tell us what makes it memorable to you.
