Do you enjoy the "creepiness" in Zelda games?

[Smiley Cat]

So the first four main Zelda games certainly all had their quirks, But then ocarina came along and things started to get a bit... weird (the Skulltula house for one example). Obviously that was followed by the infamously creepy "Majora's Mask", but even to this day Zelda games often contain weird characters and situations, such as the toilet paper quest in Skyward Sword or Agitha in Twilight Princess - the girl who's obsession with insects seems to be borderline sexual.
In fact there's so much weirdness in Zelda games now that I don't even know where to begin.

So do you enjoy this nightmare fuel? Or do you think the games would be better without it?

And if you like it than what are your personal favorite weird/creepy characters and situations in the Zelda games?

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Majora's Mask is my favorite of the N64 Zelda games. I'm not sure if I have a favorite weird or creepy character, but some weird or creepy characters to me would be:

• Dead Hand
• Floor Masters and Wall Masters
• Happy Mask Salesman
• Majora the mask
• ReDeads
• LikeLikes
• Stalchidren

Of course the main three mask transformations are also sort of creepy.

 

[Smiley Cat]

Happy Mask Salesman

I 100% agree, this guy actually scares me.

 

[Gorse]

Woah woah woah, let's not forget that Zelda II is one of the creepiest games in the series!

The entire game has this really dour, tense atmosphere – Ganon dying in the first one created a power vacuum that whipped up all his monsters into a crazy fervour, and they've completely overrun Hyrule in a rampant, disorganized chaos that's tearing the countryside apart. Towns have been obliterated, some filled with wandering souls of the departed, and the remaining people have hidden themselves away in badland quarries or dense savannahs, with only crazed old men babbling away in church basements left to lead them.

There are huge spiders blocking your path, Death Mountain is crawling with all sorts of baddies, and the monsters are literally out for Link's blood! You start off by fighting armed infantrymen, like Mazura and Jermafenser in the first two temples – these guys were probably Ganon's generals, and now think they have what it takes to usurp his position as leader – but, as the game progresses, you go deep underground to fight huge, corrupted beasts, locked away for millennia in the remnants of crumbling dungeons. Who put them there? After defeating the Thunderbird, a terrifying, corrupted nightmare of a creature, far below the Earth's surface, Link duels his own shadow – a reflection of his inherent sin, no doubt – and only emerges victorious by a hair's breadth.

Zelda II – the horror! The horror!

 

[Smiley Cat]

XD

All very good points. And now I won't sleep well tonight, so thanks for that. ;) ;)

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

I 100% agree, this guy actually scares me. lol

Alright.

 

[moonbits]

yes

 

[DunkeyKong]

This scared me the most

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

This scared me the most

I'll second that, but not because of the ReDead's designs, (though their designs are creepy), but because of their scream. ?

 

[DunkeyKong]

I'll second that, but not because of the ReDead's designs, (though their designs are creepy), but because of their scream. ?

For real like, what did the voice actor saw?

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

For real like, what did the voice actor saw?

Probably some nightmare fueled image? The ReDeads in The Wind Waker are freaky too man.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Probably some nightmare fueled image? The ReDeads in The Wind Waker are freaky too man.

Link have seen some things

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Link have seen some things

He sure has.

 

[Kaimeli45]

So the first four main Zelda games certainly all had their quirks, But then ocarina came along and things started to get a bit... weird (the Skulltula house for one example). Obviously that was followed by the infamously creepy "Majora's Mask", but even to this day Zelda games often contain weird characters and situations, such as the toilet paper quest in Skyward Sword or Agitha in Twilight Princess - the girl who's obsession with insects seems to be borderline sexual.
In fact there's so much weirdness in Zelda games now that I don't even know where to begin.

So do you enjoy this nightmare fuel? Or do you think the games would be better without it?

And if you like it than what are your personal favorite weird/creepy characters and situations in the Zelda games?

this scene.. TERRIFIED ME when i was a kid, its just so creepy man?

 

[Pickle surprise]

As someone who is not into horror at all, I actually quite enjoy when Zelda gets creepy as it is rarely cheap jumpscares but an unsettling atmosphere or just plain viscerally skin crawling imagery. The Skulltula house in OoT in terms of body horror easily rivals something Resident Evil could put out. And the Dead Hand at the bottom of Kakariko Village well is something that is actually made more unnerving due to the N64 visuals with its lack of details and sharp edges. This is proof to me that early 3D can still be used to evoke powerful emotions in certain contexts and can be just as valid of an aesthetic as pixel art.

 

[Cu-Neo]

I always loved how nintendo uses the horror in the Zelda games to show us that Hyrule is not only that beautiful "green land" like in ocarina and that always there's more than meets the eye. Majora Mask and Twilight Princess are the ones that I think nailed that the most. I perfectly remember getting surprised the first time I saw this on the wii:

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I have always loved the jarring tonal shifts between the starting locations and the dungeons. Some of that stuff is nightmare fuel.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Big debate but personally I don't like how people ask for Zelda "to become more mature" just because of Majora and Twilight princess when the entire franchise always had some underlying dark elements to begin with and not staying for one art style (which is one of its strengths). Even the first Zelda basically put Link in a kingdom that had its people hiding in caves because monsters are roaming everywhere.


With the 16-bits graphics and colourful art style it may look goofy at first but in a way it's disturbing how they left the King's body, turned into a skeleton, lying on the chair (as Agahnim probably casted a spell that instantaneously killed him). Okay, you bring him back to life in the end after touching the Triforce but you still see what the magician has done to the Kingdom.

Link's Awakening slowly tells Link that, after beating each bosses and getting the instrument, awakening the Wind Fish would simply and quickly make the entire island, its monsters and its inhabitants vanish without ever coming back which isn't creepy per se but set up a melancholic tone (much before Majora).

In Wind Waker it's basically a post-apocalyptic world, nothing more.

I can go on but while I do appreciate when some creepy and sad scenes happen it's also to strenghten our hero and making his journey something beyond "kill the demon and save the princess" kind of deal.

 

[spectresfrommercury]

yeah sure

 

[Adrastia]

That Link statue in Majora's Mask that appears when you play the Elegy of Emptyness. It's even creepier in the 3DS version due to the texturing used. When I first saw this thing it freaked me out so bad. The way it just stares with that toothy grin. And how it doesn't resemble in-game Link at all.

Nightmare fuel. They could make a horror movie about it.

 

[Yukyon]

Hell yeah!

 

[trickybus]

I find that the most successful spooks are the ones in light-hearted games because you don't expect them to be there.

Skyward Sword has a few creepy moments I really like: the Silent Realms are tense even before that haunting music starts to play; Koloktos, the Ancient Cistern boss, for inexplicably giggling like a child and smiling at you before exploding; and the Ancient Cistern again for that moment when Link climbs a long rope out of the underworld only for cursed Bokoblins to climb after him en masse.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I find that the most successful spooks are the ones in light-hearted games because you don't expect them to be there.

Absolutely.

When you play Twilight Princess you kinda expect the creepy moments.

Spoiler: like this one

But when it's a cutesy entry one happening would feel like a slap on the face.

Not creepy per se but I didn't expect this to happen

Spoiler: ALTTP spoiler

 

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

I adore the creepy aspects of Zelda, but honestly I've always loved when non-horror games include horror elements. If a game IS horror it's... expected. But if you're playing through some high fantasy adventure, just running around exploring with your dog, and suddenly find this cozy little winter cabin...

It just helps accentuate it and make it really impactful and memorable.

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

I love when zelda is a mix of cute and creepy