Have Zelda characters impacted/inspired your life?

[SariaFan93]

I wonder if it's just me, or does anyone else have a Zelda character that's impacted/influenced their life in some way. For me, that character is Saria and she has impacted my life in a positive way. I started playing Ocarina of Time when I was 13, and she was the character that I liked the most due to her friendly traits. It's a long story, but I'll shorten it to the highlights.

When I was in junior year of high school, I was on a robotics team that bullied me and treated me like scum. I have Asperger's and anxiety, and my team shunned me over tensions from a girl who rejected me for friendship. I felt the need to get a plushie of Saria, but none were readily available. I had one custom made for my 18th birthday. And during my senior year of high school, my robotics team continued to shun me. Things went too far when that same girl who rejected me started a rumor stating I'd turn a robotics competition in Chicago into a Columbine-like massacre. I left the team and didn't go on the trip, and the only thing that soothed my emotional wounds was Saria. I just kept thinking about her and how she was always there for Link. Also, I would hug and hold my Saria plushie whenever I felt down. I graduated 3rd in my class.

I also gained two new close friends because of my fandom. One friend found me on YouTube, and our similarities were nearly identical (including being Saria fans). And I met one friend at my college, and managed to stop that person from harming themselves. Saria has improved my social skills and taught me the true meaning of friendship. She also instilled the idea in me of never giving up on myself.

Last May, my father died from a cardiac arrest. What kept me going through all the pain and stress was Saria. I would watch Ocarina of Time cinematics where she's featured, listen to her song, and even go the Sacred Forest Meadow just to be with Saria. She calms me down and/or cheers me up, and never fails to bring a smile to my face. I'm almost 23, and she has brought so much joy into my life.

I am also a very loyal fan of Saria. I chose not to watch OoT Let's Plays since I don't like it when people talk smack about her or portray her in a negative way. It's just my way of respecting Saria. And if I ever have a daughter of my own one day, I'll name her Saria.

 

[DrJaden]

That is a very nice story. I can honestly say I've never really attached to any character.

 

[TheTwilightPrincess]

I get very emotionally attached to characters, but one that I felt the most inspired by is Link. I always felt Link's willingness to power on, and to make it through the hardest of times, were things to be encouraged by. I have anxiety & depression, and getting through this year was much harder than it should have been. I used the Triforce of courage as my 'motto' - if you could call it that- this year. Its doodled onto every object I own, and drew it on myself constantly, to remind me of who I strive to be. It really did help me to play the games again, and feel needed. I know I am not important to many, and Link has taught me that that is okay. But I still have to keep pushing on through life, and be the best I can be, so eventually I can help someone. Even if it is one person, I will still be their 'hero'. I know a lot of people who feel this way, which make this series even more special to me.
Thank you @SariaFan93 for sharing your story.

 

[Spirit]

Hmmm, i guess it would have to be Malon. Not because she inspired me as such, but because i felt a very genuine concern for her while playing OoT, it was the very first time i'd felt so strongly for a fictional character.

Let me tell you the story...

I was born at the right time to have grown up 'with' Zelda as a series. I was a little too young to understand what video games were when i first played LoZ and AoL, but the music and familiar top down view became engrained into my mind and by the time AlttP and LA rolled around i knew exactly what they were and what i was doing.

After years of fun with AlttP, OoT came into my life and blew me away, the world felt real, dizzyingly large, it was full of magic and wonder and characters i'd come to always hold a candle for in my heart.

I remember roaming Hyrule field and remember coming across the Lon Lon Ranch, i'd not long said goodbye to Saria (a character who had helped break me into this wonderful new world) so i was feeling a little lonely...

So when i met Malon in Lon Lon Ranch it felt like i'd made another friend in this wide world who i could always visit and chat to. I'd often go to Lon Lon just for some down time when i was stuck between dungeons and Malon and her song were always there for me, it was then that i realised how much of a connection i had made with her...

Pressing on with the game i was thrust 7 years into the future... upon leaving the Temple of Time and seeing the destruction Ganondorf had wraught upon the land my thoughts werent of Zelda, the scary ring above Death Mountain or the idea of a second dreaded water temple, they were of Malon.

I did what i needed to do and ran to Lon Lon Ranch as quickly as i could and this is where things got so intense for me that i could barely play the game because of the sheer level of discomfort that it implied towards my feelings for Malon...

Gone was Talon, replaced by Ingo... a cruel ****er who worked Malon to the bone, threatening to beat the horses she loved so much if she didnt do as she were told...

That was enough for me. The implied interactions between Malon and Ingo didnt end with that conversation. In my mind, while i was off saving the world, Malon had to endure Ingo and obey him, she had to do whatever he told her to.... this seedy bastard, demanding things of her... and she was helpless against him.

I didnt want to leave Lon Lon ever and i swung back to the ranch whenever i could to check on her. While i was exploring dungeons my mind was on her, when i met Sheik and Saria my mind was always on Malon... the things happening behind closed doors that my mind was telling me were going on made me not want to play the game but also made me want to play it and finish it as fast as i could to make everything okay again...

It was hell....

I still cant really play OoT without thinking of Malon and thinking that some darker stuff went on in that ranch than just threatening to beat the horses...



So to answer the thread, Malon is the one main Zelda character who impacted my life in a significant way. I guess she does inspire me just because she seems so brave when coupled with the horrible thoughts i tried to not entertain. But more so it was the very first time i'd cared for a fictional character in any entertainment medium. In fact i cared about her more than most real people in my life at the time and still do.

So yeah. Thats my story.