**Before I begin I want to point out that this theory isn't trying to convince you of anything but rather highlight the possibility of such an idea and open it up to conversation. I myself am not entirely convinced by my own theory but thought it would be an interesting topic nonetheless.**
**Note that I'll be using in-game facts and details along with the use of the Hyrule Historia (which is canon even if you don't want it to be.)**
This theory primarily deals with Link's Awakening. Link's Awakening is a rather unique chapter in The Legend of Zelda because it takes place within a dream and has very little, if any, impact on the series as a whole. But that doesn't mean that its a pointless or uninteresting adventure...
While playing through Link's Awakening recently I noticed a number of things that started to point towards a rather surreal possibility. The possibility being that the Link of Link's Awakening somehow has, at least in part and however unconsciously, the memories of the Links that existed previous to him.
To make this as simple as I can, dreams are often the product of our unconscious minds and memories. In Link's Awakening there are characters living on Koholint Island that closely resemble characters of whom Link has previously met on his past adventures (LA's Link being the same Link as the one in ALttP, Ages and Seasons). "[Marin and Tarin] Residents of Mabe Village On Koholint Island. Similar characters also appear in Holodrum, and in Hyrule during the Era of the Hero of Time. Tarin and Marin may be the product of Link's memories of Malon and her father Talon, of Lon Lon Ranch." (Hyrule Historia, p.102) It makes sense that Link would have memories of characters he met on his past adventures such as Malon and Talon of Holodrum (seen in Oracle of Seasons)... This also helps me to explain my next point that the characters in Link's Awakening may hold resemblances to, but are not definitive versions of, the characters that previous incarnations of Link have made contact with in the past.
While Marin and Tarin hold striking resemblances to Malon and Talon, which as the Hyrule Historia suggests could be the product of Link's memories, there are other characters within Link's Awakening who hold striking resemblances to characters that the Link of Link's Awakening never met...
The Wind Fish for example has a very striking resemblance to Levias from Skyward Sword, and the owl that guides Link through Link's Awakening has a strong resemblance to Kaepora Gaebora, the owl (who is later revealed as the Sage Rauru) from Ocarina of Time.
How could Link of Link's Awakening dream of characters so closely resembling characters which he never met?
While it could just be coincidence that Link of Link's Awakening dreamt of a giant flying whale and a guardian owl, I think its important to note that the characters of Levias and Kaepora Gaebora are two very important characters in the Zelda lore; Kaepora Gaebora/Rauru, the Sage of Light who built the Temple of Time and Levias, a sky spirit appointed by the Goddess Hylia to be the protector of the skies and the location of the Triforce, so surely there has to be something in that?
Note also that the characters of Kaepora Gaebora and Levias exist before the 'Hero Defeated' timeline, meaning that anything that occurs in the future after Ocarina of Time on the 'Adult' and 'Child' Timelines hold no sway over Link's (of Link's Awakening) memories. For example, there isn't a character in Link's Awakening that resembles any of the characters found in other games that occur after Ocarina of Time, so at least his potential for memories of characters past which Link never met are held up by the timeline.
So, if Link of Link's Awakening does indeed posses the unconscious memories of past Links (such as Link of Skyward Sword and Link of Ocarina of Time) then the question is how?
Originally I thought the answer lay in the much contested theory of 'The Spirit of The Hero' which would mean that Link's spirit would constantly need to recycle. However, with no real in-game evidence or proof in the Hyrule Historia to back the theory that Link's spirit constantly recycled (thus retaining the unconscious memories of past adventures) and after deciding that 'The Spirit of a Hero' was a more apt description of future Links' worthiness to wield the Triforce of Courage (given that the Japanese language doesn't have the likes of 'A' and 'The' for descriptive purposes and that it was due to translation rather than original intent of the story), I moved on to other possibilities.
The next (and best reason I could think of) for Link to retain previous memories of past Links was through Zelda's bloodline. Its widly assumed after Skyward Sword that Link and Zelda procreated and their future generations worked on establishing the Kingdom of Hyrule on the surface world beneath the clouds. So we can assume that future generations of Link are in someway part of Zelda's bloodline.
But how would Zelda's blood help future Links retain unconscious memories of the past? Well, we need to travel into another contested theory...
We know that Zelda in Skyward Sword is the Goddess Hylia reborn, and we know that Zelda traveled with Impa to numerous springs to awaken the memories and powers of Hylia within her to strengthen the seal which imprisoned Demise. We know that Hylia is a Goddess but we don't know what she is a Goddess of. Popular theory points to her being the often mentioned Goddess of time, the theory is of course contested but there is evidence to support it.
Firstly, Hylia seems to transcend time itself, she discarded her memories and deity status to be reborn as a resident of Skyloft (Zelda) but was later resurrected within Zelda in Skyward Sword, thus perhaps pointing to the possibility that her soul or spirit is eternal and transcends time itself.
Fi often relates messages to Link from Hylia which 'guide him from the edge of time.'
Hylia's plan to one day put an end to Demise using the Master Sword and a brave hero able to wield the Triforce of Courage also seems to transcend time, could she see the future, how could she have put such a master plan into place if she didn't have some sway over the commodity of time?
In Ocarina of Time, the Ocarina is something that has been passed down for generations, why would Zelda's ancestors have something like an Ocarina of Time at all if they weren't related to some sort of deity, like Hylia.
In Majora's Mask it is said that it is through the Goddess of Time's power that Link can travel back and forth through time. Link also has a flashback to Zelda saying that 'The Goddess of Time is watching over you.' Link's memories of Zelda prompt him to play the Song of Time and escape death by moon in Termina, as a bearer of the spirit of Hylia was it Zelda/Hylia watching over him, is Hylia's power summoned when the Ocarina is played?
If we accept that Hylia is the Goddess of Time and that Zelda is Hylia reborn and that Link and Zelda share a bloodline after Skyward Sword, then its possible that with the blood of the Goddess of Time, that future Links would hold unconscious memories of past, and important, characters...
What say you of this theory, are the Wind Fish and the owl in Link's Awakening in some way related to Rauru and Levias in link's unconscious memories of past adventures through his ancestors' bloodline?
(Of course I know that as far as design goes the connections between the characters are all just references made by Nintendo in the way they often recycle characters for other games, but play along with the theory.)
**Note that I'll be using in-game facts and details along with the use of the Hyrule Historia (which is canon even if you don't want it to be.)**
This theory primarily deals with Link's Awakening. Link's Awakening is a rather unique chapter in The Legend of Zelda because it takes place within a dream and has very little, if any, impact on the series as a whole. But that doesn't mean that its a pointless or uninteresting adventure...
While playing through Link's Awakening recently I noticed a number of things that started to point towards a rather surreal possibility. The possibility being that the Link of Link's Awakening somehow has, at least in part and however unconsciously, the memories of the Links that existed previous to him.
To make this as simple as I can, dreams are often the product of our unconscious minds and memories. In Link's Awakening there are characters living on Koholint Island that closely resemble characters of whom Link has previously met on his past adventures (LA's Link being the same Link as the one in ALttP, Ages and Seasons). "[Marin and Tarin] Residents of Mabe Village On Koholint Island. Similar characters also appear in Holodrum, and in Hyrule during the Era of the Hero of Time. Tarin and Marin may be the product of Link's memories of Malon and her father Talon, of Lon Lon Ranch." (Hyrule Historia, p.102) It makes sense that Link would have memories of characters he met on his past adventures such as Malon and Talon of Holodrum (seen in Oracle of Seasons)... This also helps me to explain my next point that the characters in Link's Awakening may hold resemblances to, but are not definitive versions of, the characters that previous incarnations of Link have made contact with in the past.
While Marin and Tarin hold striking resemblances to Malon and Talon, which as the Hyrule Historia suggests could be the product of Link's memories, there are other characters within Link's Awakening who hold striking resemblances to characters that the Link of Link's Awakening never met...
The Wind Fish for example has a very striking resemblance to Levias from Skyward Sword, and the owl that guides Link through Link's Awakening has a strong resemblance to Kaepora Gaebora, the owl (who is later revealed as the Sage Rauru) from Ocarina of Time.
How could Link of Link's Awakening dream of characters so closely resembling characters which he never met?
While it could just be coincidence that Link of Link's Awakening dreamt of a giant flying whale and a guardian owl, I think its important to note that the characters of Levias and Kaepora Gaebora are two very important characters in the Zelda lore; Kaepora Gaebora/Rauru, the Sage of Light who built the Temple of Time and Levias, a sky spirit appointed by the Goddess Hylia to be the protector of the skies and the location of the Triforce, so surely there has to be something in that?
Note also that the characters of Kaepora Gaebora and Levias exist before the 'Hero Defeated' timeline, meaning that anything that occurs in the future after Ocarina of Time on the 'Adult' and 'Child' Timelines hold no sway over Link's (of Link's Awakening) memories. For example, there isn't a character in Link's Awakening that resembles any of the characters found in other games that occur after Ocarina of Time, so at least his potential for memories of characters past which Link never met are held up by the timeline.
So, if Link of Link's Awakening does indeed posses the unconscious memories of past Links (such as Link of Skyward Sword and Link of Ocarina of Time) then the question is how?
Originally I thought the answer lay in the much contested theory of 'The Spirit of The Hero' which would mean that Link's spirit would constantly need to recycle. However, with no real in-game evidence or proof in the Hyrule Historia to back the theory that Link's spirit constantly recycled (thus retaining the unconscious memories of past adventures) and after deciding that 'The Spirit of a Hero' was a more apt description of future Links' worthiness to wield the Triforce of Courage (given that the Japanese language doesn't have the likes of 'A' and 'The' for descriptive purposes and that it was due to translation rather than original intent of the story), I moved on to other possibilities.
The next (and best reason I could think of) for Link to retain previous memories of past Links was through Zelda's bloodline. Its widly assumed after Skyward Sword that Link and Zelda procreated and their future generations worked on establishing the Kingdom of Hyrule on the surface world beneath the clouds. So we can assume that future generations of Link are in someway part of Zelda's bloodline.
But how would Zelda's blood help future Links retain unconscious memories of the past? Well, we need to travel into another contested theory...
We know that Zelda in Skyward Sword is the Goddess Hylia reborn, and we know that Zelda traveled with Impa to numerous springs to awaken the memories and powers of Hylia within her to strengthen the seal which imprisoned Demise. We know that Hylia is a Goddess but we don't know what she is a Goddess of. Popular theory points to her being the often mentioned Goddess of time, the theory is of course contested but there is evidence to support it.
Firstly, Hylia seems to transcend time itself, she discarded her memories and deity status to be reborn as a resident of Skyloft (Zelda) but was later resurrected within Zelda in Skyward Sword, thus perhaps pointing to the possibility that her soul or spirit is eternal and transcends time itself.
Fi often relates messages to Link from Hylia which 'guide him from the edge of time.'
Hylia's plan to one day put an end to Demise using the Master Sword and a brave hero able to wield the Triforce of Courage also seems to transcend time, could she see the future, how could she have put such a master plan into place if she didn't have some sway over the commodity of time?
In Ocarina of Time, the Ocarina is something that has been passed down for generations, why would Zelda's ancestors have something like an Ocarina of Time at all if they weren't related to some sort of deity, like Hylia.
In Majora's Mask it is said that it is through the Goddess of Time's power that Link can travel back and forth through time. Link also has a flashback to Zelda saying that 'The Goddess of Time is watching over you.' Link's memories of Zelda prompt him to play the Song of Time and escape death by moon in Termina, as a bearer of the spirit of Hylia was it Zelda/Hylia watching over him, is Hylia's power summoned when the Ocarina is played?
If we accept that Hylia is the Goddess of Time and that Zelda is Hylia reborn and that Link and Zelda share a bloodline after Skyward Sword, then its possible that with the blood of the Goddess of Time, that future Links would hold unconscious memories of past, and important, characters...
What say you of this theory, are the Wind Fish and the owl in Link's Awakening in some way related to Rauru and Levias in link's unconscious memories of past adventures through his ancestors' bloodline?
(Of course I know that as far as design goes the connections between the characters are all just references made by Nintendo in the way they often recycle characters for other games, but play along with the theory.)
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