ReDeads in Zelda: The Nintendo Take on Zombies

Zombies, zombies everywhere!  At least that's what it seems like when it comes to videogames (and more recently, television shows).  The Legend of Zelda games are no exception due to their own form of zombie: the ReDead.  Today let's observe this undead (does being re-dead technically count as undead? hmm...) monstrosity that Link must face.

ReDeads made their first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and what a first appearance it is.  Link finds himself in an underground tomb of the royal family of Hyrule (located in Kakariko Village's graveyard), and comes across a large room filled with zombie ReDeads.  In fact, the majority of ReDeads are found in tombs, as well as Hyrule Castle Town after Ganondorf sacks it.  It wouldn't be appropriate to have this super-disturbing enemy hanging out on the sunny beach of Lake Hylia, now would it?

Before you even catch sight of a ReDead, you'll know it's nearby due to the distinctive moaning sounds it makes (maybe it's saying "braaaiiinss" in the Hylian language?).  They walk extremely slow, and with a hunchbacked posture, fitting for a zombie.  You might think that this would make them easy to avoid, but the game developers were one step ahead of you.  ReDeads will let out a high-pitched scream when Link is nearby, which paralyzes him in fear.  When this happens, you helplessly watch as one or more of these monsters shambles towards the frozen Link.  Once they are close enough, they will jump on Link's back and proceed to bite him.

Just like the Dead Hand in Ocarina of Time, this creature was clearly designed to give kids nightmares.  It's definitely one of the most-feared enemies in the game.

Like most enemies in Ocarina of Time, the ReDead makes an appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.  This game also contains an enemy called the Gibdo, which is basically a ReDead dressed up in mummy wrappings.  While wearing the Gibdo mask, Link can converse with some of these zombie mummies, while you try to decide if you're horrified or amused.

ReDeads even pull in a guest appearance in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.  Here they abandon their previous looks for something we are more accustomed to seeing with zombies.  They have greenish dead-looking skin, as well as a mouthful of teeth, definitely nailing the undead corpse look.  They have very long arms which almost drag on the ground, and a gigantic head (oddly enough, they even have earrings), making for an altogether disturbing visual appearance.  Like their previous incarnations, they have a paralyzing scream that incapacitates Link.

That about wraps up our quick look at the zombie creatures in the Legend of Zelda games.  ReDeads are definitely a frightening enemy, due to their appearance and their ability to freeze Link on the spot.  They are proof that Nintendo does display a bit of a dark side every once in a while, and that's fine with me!

What did you guys think of the ReDeads?  Did they give you a fright when you first encountered them?

Skulltulas in Zelda Games: Webs of Horror

Leave it to the creators of the Legend of Zelda games to marry two things that freak people out: spiders and human skulls.  What do you get when you combine those?  Skulltulas of course!  Let's take a look at this monstrous arachnid's appearances in some of the Zelda games.

The reason these spiders are called Skulltulas is because they tend to have a human skull-shaped pattern covering their backside.  They can range in size from small dog to holy-hell-it's-bigger-than-a-horse.  One thing they all have in common though is a taste for human flesh, since they will ruthlessly attack Link whenever he's in the area.

In Ocarina of Time, there are a few varieties of Skulltula to encounter.  These Skulltulas have an incredibly pronounced human skull pattern on their back, complete with gaping eye sockets and even a hole where the nose would go.  It's almost as if someone glued a Halloween mask to their backs.

The largest breed of this spider is more massive than adult Link.  It hangs from the ceiling and will drop down in a surprise attack once you get within range.  After it has lowered down on its web, this Skulltula will execute a spin attack if Link gets too close while facing the spider's back (the easiest way to defeat it is to slash at its exposed belly).

Smaller varieties in this game are the Skullwalltula and Gold Skulltula.  Skullwalltulas usually hang out in areas where Link has to climb, clinging to vines and rock walls.  If Link gets too close, this spider will charge at him and knock him off the climbable surface.

Gold Skulltulas are more docile, but will still cause damage to Link if he touches it.  Defeating this breed of spider will enable Link to help a family in Kakariko Village who were cursed and transformed into human-Skulltula hybrids (yes it's as horrifying as it sounds).  As you collect Gold Skulltula tokens, the family members will turn back into humans one by one.

Skulltulas also make an appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.  As Link travels the land in his train, there are certain sections of the map where these spiders will drop down and hang right over the tracks.  They will proceed to swing back and forth over the tracks, making for a somewhat challenging target to hit with the train's cannon, especially when you're moving at top speed.  Like their counterparts in Ocarina of Time, these Skulltulas are huge, easily as big as the train itself, and contain pretty much the same skull pattern on their backs.

In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, our favorite arachnids once again show up for combat, but in a form we aren't used to.  Unlike the previous two games we just discussed, where this enemy primarily hangs from webs or climbs on walls, the Twilight Princess Skulltulas are capable of walking on the ground.  This makes them a much more dangerous enemy since they aren't limited to staying in one small area like we're used to seeing.

A Skulltula lowering onto the battlefield.

Also the pattern on their backs is much less pronounced, appearing as if someone took some face paint and tried to draw a vague skull-like face on them.  As a matter of fact, when I played through this game I didn't even recognize them as Skulltulas for a while because of these differences (when they walk on the ground it's actually kind of hard to even see the pattern on their backs).

That about wraps up our quick look at this shudder-inducing enemy in the Zelda games.  Did any variant of Skulltula give you the creeps?

The Dead Hand in Ocarina of Time: Nightmares for Everyone!

As I've said many times, the Zelda games contain many horrors that make you question if they should be played by kids.  Every once in a while this series will contain a monster that is so grotesque and disturbing that it looks like it belongs in a Resident Evil game.  Today we're going to look at one such monster: a boss from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time called the Dead Hand.

Immediately you'll notice that the Dead Hand is not a very pleasant creature to look at.  It looks like a blob of fat encased in pale white corpse-like skin, covered with patches of blood for good measure.  It has two stubby arms with apparently no hands attached (you'd think that would contradict its name, but just wait and see), and a hunchbacked posture. 

Because no monstrosity would be complete without a horrific face, the Dead Hand has a large head with a set of gigantic teeth.  Looking back at it, he kind of looks similar to the Joker in the Batman animated series.

Now the reason this beast is called the Dead Hand is because it commands a group of hands which protrude out of the ground.  If you make the mistake of getting too close to one of these hands, they will grab Link by the head and hold him there while the Dead Hand moves in for the attack.  Needless to say it's a horrifying feeling to watch this monster creep over to poor helpless Link and take a bit out of him with those huge teeth.

Hello nightmare material.

In order to take down the Dead Hand, you must hit him in the face with Link's sword.  This can be tricky since it tends to hold its face high in the air (taking it out of range of the sword) until it gets close enough to bite Link.  If you can manage this technique without getting caught too many times by the hands, you'll be rewarded with an end to this current nightmare, and a whole set of disturbing memories of this monster.

What did you guys think of the Dead Hand?  Do you think Nintendo went a bit too far by putting this disgusting monster into the game?

The Ghostly Poes in Zelda: Ocarina of Time

What's Halloween without a good ghost story?  Well how about this: once upon a time in the land of Hyrule, a hero named Link encountered many ghosts on his journeys.  The ghosts are called Poes, and in this article we'll be looking at their appearances in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

In Ocarina of Time, you will encounter Poes all over Hyrule, but their main haunt is the Kakariko Village graveyard.  If Link is foolish enough to start disturbing the graves by pulling back their headstones, Poes will appear and begin patrolling the graveyard.  These ghosts are all pretty similar in appearance, wearing a hood which hides all facial features except for their glowing eyes, and carrying a lantern.

Expect to find a large concentration of ghosts here.

Poes will attack Link by charging at him while spinning their lantern around.  Trying to lock on to most Poes will cause them to go invisible, eliminating any easy slingshot/bow-and-arrow attacks.  Successfully defeating these ghosts will allow you to capture their spirit, which you can then drink (gross), or sell to a Poe collector.

There are various special Poes found throughout the game, such as Big Poes who appear at specific locations in Hyrule field, which fetch a high price at the Poe Collector.  Another example are four special Poes found in the Forest Temple, which must be defeated in order to advance to the temple's boss.

A Big Poe eludes capture.

While not very scary, these ghosts add a little bit of darkness to Ocarina of Time, and they are for the most part well-placed in areas of Hyrule that should be haunted (the land does have a bloody history after all).

The Possible Recurring Cast of Skyward Sword (Massive Speculation)

After all this time, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is almost upon us! The first and last Wii-exclusive Zelda title (remember, Twilight Princess was also a Gamecube title) looks to send the Wii out with a bang. It is much too early to speculate what the Zelda games will be like once the franchise inevitably moves to the Wii U, seeing as we don't know much about it other than the controller looks like a giant white high-definition Sega Game Gear. However, with Skyward Sword's release just around the corner, now is the perfect time to add to the excitement by guessing what will be in this game.

In this article I wanted to speculate about which recurring characters we will see in Skyward Sword. Recurring characters are no stranger to the Zelda franchise, which of course features the same protagonist in every game. After the series' jump to 3D with Ocarina of Time, more and more characters in the Zelda universe have made an appearance in some form. Majora's Mask is an extreme case due to being set in an alternate universe to Ocarina of Time, with alternate versions of most of the Hyrule population. With that said, let's take a look at a few characters from past Zelda games, and make a wild guess if they will appear in Skyward Sword.

The Postman

We all know this guy, he was called the Running Man during his first Zelda appearance in Ocarina of Time, and since then has taken up a career in postal delivery for later Zelda games. I'd almost be willing to bet money he will show up in Skyward Sword, mainly because of how many times this guy has put in a cameo lately. Imagine the possibilities! The Postal Man with winged boots, running/flying through the clouds to deliver mostly pointless mail to Link.  Not too exciting, but maybe I just want to see the Postman run on air.

The Happy Mask Salesman

Ok I know this would probably be a stretch. We haven't seen the quick-tempered mask salesman on a non-handheld console since Majora's Mask. Presumably this is because he's the first person you see when you respawn in the clock tower, during the period when you are dangerously enraged by yet another repeated failure to save Clock Town from the evil of Miyamoto's three-day time limit. Still, we've all had over ten years to cool off and (mostly) get over our grudge against the mask salesman for making us repeat the same three days over and over in a style that Dark Tower fans will appreciate.  It would be fun to see this guy in Skyward Sword, if only for the nostalgia.

Tingle

You didn't think I'd leave Tingle off this list did you?

Admit it, before reading a single word in the opening paragraph of this article, you made a quick scroll-through to see if I was going to mention this character.  I know, I'm always getting on Tingle's case.  Why the Nintendo devs chose to include the flamboyant map-maker/creepy man-elf in so many Zelda games, we may never know. Tingle hasn't put in an appearance outside of handheld consoles since the horror known as Tingle Island in the Wind Waker, but I wouldn't be surprised if he made a triumphant return to our nightmares through Skyward Sword. I grudgingly admit that he would probably be a good fit for this game, due to the balloon he uses to float around. Can't you just picture him flying hundreds of feet above Hyrule field, slowly drifting towards Link with his balloon, blood dripping down his chin while he sings Tingle Tingle Kooloo-Limpah? Maybe he'll even make an appearance as an optional boss battle:

This concludes my quick speculation as to what Zelda characters could make a cameo appearance in Skyward Sword. What recurring characters would you guys like to see in this latest Zelda release?

Annoying Sidekicks That Make You Want to Go Solo

Sometimes, even the mightiest of game characters need someone or something to provide assistance.  When done properly, a sidekick for the main character can be a valuable asset, providing hints or new abilities that wouldn't be available otherwise.  Sometimes a good sidekick can be there mainly to provide observations that help to pull you into the story, such as in the Halo games when Cortana provides the Master Chief with updates about the Covenant's whereabouts and current actions.

However, there are game developers out there who want to ruin our fun by providing annoying and sometimes worthless sidekicks that rarely do more than get on our nerves.  Here are some of the offending characters that you may have had the misfortune of putting up with.

Ashley from Resident Evil 4

Leon help! Help me! Leon!! Help!

The low point of Resident Evil 4 is when you rescue Ashley, because from then on the game pretty much becomes one giant escort mission.  Ashley has absolutely no way to defend herself, which results in her constantly crying for you to help her.  This is a huge inconvenience while you are trying to defend yourself from hordes of almost-zombie villagers.  Worse still, she has her own life bar, so if you decide to let her fend for herself you'll be greeted with plenty of game over screens.  I suspect that only Ico is a game that involves more hand holding than this Resident Evil game.

Roman from Grand Theft Auto IV

Cousin! Let us go bowling, again.

Ok so technically Roman isn't your sidekick in GTA IV, but you end up driving him around the city so much that he might as well be.  Roman is the cousin of the main character Niko, and enjoys spending time with him, which means that he often gives Niko a call and asks that they hang out.  This wouldn't be a problem if the phone calls were few and far between, but no, it seems like every five minutes you are receiving a call from Roman to go bowling, play darts, or hit up the strip clubs.  And you always have to drive over to pick up Roman within a time limit, or else he feels that you snubbed him, and your friendship rating nosedives.  There's nothing more annoying than having to drive all the way across Liberty City to pick this guy up and take him to a bar for the 100th time in the game.

Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This is probably the most annoying character in all the Zelda games, a fairy who won't shut up.  Navi is your constant companion throughout the entire game, and can be very helpful by telling you the weaknesses of enemies, and hinting at which area you should visit next in order to make progress in the storyline.  However, when she wants you to advance further in the game, she constantly lets you know about it, driving both you and Link insane with cries of "Hey! Hey! Listen!!"  As all Zelda fans can tell you, it's a very unpleasant experience to have a fairy screaming in your ear every couple of minutes while you are trying to travel Hyrule field to complete side-quests.

Tingle: The Man-Elf From Your Worst Nightmares

When you stop to think about it, the Legend of Zelda games have some genuinely creepy characters.  People have plenty to fear from these games, be it Ooccoo from Twilight Princess, the Redeads from Ocarina of Time, and probably the most feared character of them all: Tingle.

Tingle first appeared to haunt our nightmares in Majora's Mask for the N64,  where he desperately wants to be a fairy.  He has become so delusional that he thinks wearing green full-body spandex, acting extremely flamboyant, and flying around with the help of a balloon tied to his waist has magically transformed him.  Sadly the only way to receive maps for certain areas of the game are by buying them through Tingle, so for most of us, this creature was unavoidable.

And then, for reasons unknown, Nintendo decided that Tingle was a huge hit, and to the horror of gamers everywhere they made the choice to include him in many Zelda games following Majora's Mask.  I still remember thinking that after Majora's Mask I was done with that man-elf once and for all, only to cry in anguish upon finding him in The Oracle of Ages, floating around and staring at me with that creepy smile that would strike fear into the heart of Ganon.

As if that wasn't enough, Nintendo chose to torture us even more by upping the ante in the Wind Waker.  We not only get Tingle, but we get a location called Tingle Island that is entirely populated by Tingle clones!

Why did Nintendo do this to us?  Is it because Wind Waker is a game about sailing the open seas, so Nintendo wanted to include their version of the Bermuda Triangle?

Thankfully, Miyamoto decided to give us a break by not including the man-elf-satan in Twilight Princess, probably knowing that a game with both Tingle and Ooccoo would probably scare away most gamers from future Zelda games.  But it still doesn't excuse them from all the Tingle appearances in the past.  Until next time, Tingle, Tingle, Kooloo-Limpah!