Freud and the fish

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

As a student of psychology, it has always bothered me that everything presented in Link's Awaking usually gets handwaved, simply because it's "just" a dream. I propose that there is plenty to learn about the world(s) of the franchise, if only we look a bit closer.

Firstly, with two connections I have found, so far, to Breath of the Wild. The shape of the dream island is close to the similarly named Koholit Rock or, Eventide Island. Then there is the Mabe Village Ruins. The name is more than just a match; the layout is the same as well. I believe that these are places that the Wind fish has visited, either often enough, or during important enough events, that they stuck in the mind of the powerful entity. (Keep that in your thoughts as I continue.)

Secondly, the instruments. Musical instruments have been important all throughout the series. It's not a stretch to suggest that the Wind Fish has seen, or at very least heard about, these instruments. Two that come to mind immediately are the Harp of Ages and the Ocarina of Time. I wouldn't be surprised if there were analogs for each instrument, either at the time, or in the past.

This is where we start the actual dream interpretation. I think everything we see in the dream were important places and/or experiences that the Wind Fish actually experienced, but jumbled up, then interpreted by Link; a second dreamer caught in the dream, influenceing it himself. Between how Marin acts when following Link, particularly when attacking the chickens, and how he is shown to actually cause changes to characters and the world, the game is as much his dream as the Wind Fish's. At the end, Link is even told, "Let us awaken... Together!"

So, when Link sees a village populated by animals, what we see could be an interpretation of something even more wild. The only location I can think of where people who either are, or look like, animals, is the dark world/sacred realm. In particular, when link is turned into a rabbit, it shows that people entering that realm, even if under particular circumstances, can change into animals. Gather some of them into a village, and you have an animal village. This tells us that the Wind Fish can travel between the different realms.

When I played the game, the right side of the river always seemed tripper than the left. If so, the river could actually be dividing the over word from the sacred realm/dark world. So, when you visit a location along, or in, the river, it would suggest that there are places between the two, such as Termina, or the Twilight Realm. These could easily be represented by the Kanalet Castle, and the Catfish's Maw.

It could be that we have a sort of Legend of Zelda realm map, that shouldn't be brushed away because it's a dream. That said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and not everything needs to fulfill a grander meaning. Moblins could be everywhere, so they pop up here too.

What connections do think I might have missed, skipped, or glossed over?

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

This is an interesting concept. For context with the rest of the series, would this imply thta the wind fish has the ability to travel through different timelines? I think for now I'm just going to focus on the parts of the dream that connect to Link's own journey.

First thing to cross my mind is Kanalet Castle, which seems very put of place in the middle of a field, no kingdom under its rule. You cited this as a possible representation of another realm, and I can see a clear connection to Link here as well. Prince Richard is chased from his castle by rebellious servants, very similarly to when Agahnim gained control of Hyrule castle in the beginning of alttp. To enter the Kanalet castle the first time you need to travel through an underground passageway, once again in a way that is similar to how Link gets into Hyrule castle. Those few parallelisms make me think that perhaps this section is in part drawn from Link's memories and experiences.

There's also the most obvious connection of the final boss. It has several obvious and purposeful ties to alttp, with Phase 2 as agahnim, Phase 3 as a moldorm, Phase 4 as ganon, and Phase 5 as a lanmola. The only forms that stand out are Phase 1, a giant bot as seen in adventure of Link but no in alttp, and the final and true form, DethI, most closely resembling Vaati. This all makes sense, with Link needing to fight what he most fears to wake the wind fish and himself.

I'll continue to look into character connections and links to other games, but this is just what I have for right now.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I like where you are going with this @Uwu_Scrooge. I think both the underground tunnels between locations, and the shadowy bosses could also hint at information the Wind Fish is privy to. The forms that the shadow took could been taken from Link's mind, while the shadow itself could be something related, yet more encompassing, that the Wind Fish would have been afraid of; such as Malice, or the curse of the Demon Tribe. This could hint that the curse does go beyond just Ganon.

While taking the tunnel to the castle could very well be a memory from Link's recent past, it could also represent paths the Wind Fish knew about between realms, that could operate in a similar way. These could represent the pathways we see in other games, that transport Link between realms, such as the cracks in A Link Between Worlds.

While I don't see any reason for this theory requiring the Wind Fish to be able to travel between time lines, I wouldn't put it past a creature powerful enough to alter reality by simply dreaming it. Though, if the entity is determined not to be able to, or just never attempted to, travel between timelines, this could all also suggest that the realm of Twilight does also exist in the downfall timeline. I don't see anything wrong with the idea that the Twilight realm, and it's backstory, began before the timeline split.

I look forward to more thoughts on this.

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

I'm also annoyed that Koholint is often ignored in the grand scheme of Zelda because nearly everybody has misunderstood the point of the game. Before you even open the box, thegame, "Link's Awakening" makes it plain that Koholint is "totally a dream world" and "none of this is real". The entire game drives home again and again that this is only the wind fish's dream and none of it actually matters. The twist was at the very end of the game when you get the true ending and realize that not only is the Wind Fish real and not a figment of Link's imagination, but Marin is also real and not merely an "undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato". That was the entire point of the game, it wasn't just a dream; whatever it was, was more than fancy. Koholint is more real than we give it credit for.

Of course, people will probably dismiss the application of Freud in this context as the psychoanalysts have been roundly dismissed as bunkum by the psychological field at large but that doesn't mean Koholint wasn't influenced by Freud, surely there are plenty of game developers who are not well acquainted with anything but pop psychology. We know, for instance, that part of the impetus behind the conception (see, you've got me babbling Freud now) of Link's Awakening was Twin Peaks. I don't know if David Lynch has ever publicly talked psychoanalysis, but certainly his corpus reflects the influence of Jung, Freud, etc. Interesting take on the game.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

see, you've got me babbling Freud now

Which I think is ultimately a good thing. Psychology is one of my educational loves. For all that was wrong with Freud, his impact on psychology, and the pop-culture it joins with, are undeniable. The idea of dreams being more than just an Ebenezer style delusion are , indeed, important here. I hadn't thought about how the original packaging impacted the idea because I hadn't played the original; I played the switch version, and looked up the differences. If a story really doesn't mater, then it's not worth telling. After 26 years, there has been plenty of time to retcon a game, or just ignore it, like the CDI games. Instead, it gets a face lift; they want more people to play it. I'm glad that you agree that this is not a game to be dismissed. Like you said, the plot twist is not that it is a dream, we already know that. the plot twist is that we are actually seeing something more real. Something that may be more "grave" than "gravy."

 

[Hyrulian Hero]

Lol, glad we can share a little Dickens and Freud here over a boat of gravy.

 

[GZ Zelda]

This is where we start the actual dream interpretation. I think everything we see in the dream were important places and/or experiences that the Wind Fish actually experienced, but jumbled up, then interpreted by Link; a second dreamer caught in the dream, influenceing it himself. Between how Marin acts when following Link, particularly when attacking the chickens, and how he is shown to actually cause changes to characters and the world, the game is as much his dream as the Wind Fish's. At the end, Link is even told, "Let us awaken... Together!"

This is why I find it much more satisfying for the Oracle games to take place before Link's Awakening: Link adds his experiences with Facade, Mr. Wright, Malon and Talon etc. into the Wind Fish's experience. Link has just as vivid a narrative psychology as the Wind Fish does, and that is exemplified through the dream-made-real that is Koholint Island. From the one subjective viewpoint of the Wind Fish, the dream is as real as one of our dreams. But adding Link's viewpoint into the world, the experience becomes twice as real.

When I played the game, the right side of the river always seemed tripper than the left. If so, the river could actually be dividing the over word from the sacred realm/dark world. So, when you visit a location along, or in, the river, it would suggest that there are places between the two, such as Termina, or the Twilight Realm. These could easily be represented by the Kanalet Castle, and the Catfish's Maw.

This idea of the river-divide is incredibly interesting. In my "Theory per Dungeon" thread, many of my theories were in-universe justifications for the insanity that is Koholint Island and it's relationship with the nightmares. Something that makes absolutely no sense is the carving in the Ancient Ruins and the Face Shrine. Who carved this ominous warning? it is almost as though the Sacred Realm, east village, is a more subconscious manifestation of the "facade" presented on the west coast of the island with its happy beach, quaint human village and rolling grasslands. Whereas the east coast is the darkness, the chaos, the barren Yarna Desert, and abandoned Ancient Ruins and Face Shrine. Idk what the River Rapids are, other than being built right above Facade's Face Shrine.

First thing to cross my mind is Kanalet Castle, which seems very put of place in the middle of a field, no kingdom under its rule. You cited this as a possible representation of another realm, and I can see a clear connection to Link here as well. Prince Richard is chased from his castle by rebellious servants, very similarly to when Agahnim gained control of Hyrule castle in the beginning of alttp. To enter the Kanalet castle the first time you need to travel through an underground passageway, once again in a way that is similar to how Link gets into Hyrule castle. Those few parallelisms make me think that perhaps this section is in part drawn from Link's memories and experiences.

Kanalet Castle is a great example of how much more fleshed-out Link makes the Wind Fish's dream. He adds details, character, vibrancy, to an otherwise inconsequential plane born from a god's subconscious. Kanalet Castle is also guarded by Kiki just as the Eastern Palace is in ALttP and it holds the Ball and Chain guard as its final obstacle just like Hyrule Castle.

There's also the most obvious connection of the final boss. It has several obvious and purposeful ties to alttp, with Phase 2 as agahnim, Phase 3 as a moldorm, Phase 4 as ganon, and Phase 5 as a lanmola. The only forms that stand out are Phase 1, a giant bot as seen in adventure of Link but no in alttp, and the final and true form, DethI, most closely resembling Vaati. This all makes sense, with Link needing to fight what he most fears to wake the wind fish and himself.

Many lesser Nightmares in LA are also non-original (as in, there are versions of them outside of Koholint.) Moldorm is from ALttP, Angler Fish is in OoA, Facade is in OoS and Hot Head is very similar to Gouen, a boss from Four Swords. And then there's DethI who is like Vaati made out of Bellum-like Malice. This is all to say that the villains of this game are not imagined, they are manifestations of true fears held by both Link and the Wind Fish that must be conquered.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

This idea of the river-divide is incredibly interesting. In my "Theory per Dungeon" thread, many of my theories were in-universe justifications for the insanity that is Koholint Island and it's relationship with the nightmares. Something that makes absolutely no sense is the carving in the Ancient Ruins and the Face Shrine. Who carved this ominous warning? it is almost as though the Sacred Realm, east village, is a more subconscious manifestation of the "facade" presented on the west coast of the island with its happy beach, quaint human village and rolling grasslands. Whereas the east coast is the darkness, the chaos, the barren Yarna Desert, and abandoned Ancient Ruins and Face Shrine. Idk what the River Rapids are, other than being built right above Facade's Face Shrine.

You make some good observations. I've also struggled with placing the rapids. Perhaps they represent a part of the world/multiverse we haven't seen yet. Perhaps they represent the Wind Fish's ability to freely navigate the divide between worlds, while Link must struggle with his raft and timing. Perhaps this cigar is just a cigar.

The carved warning did seem out of place, as in, it seemed to be directed at Link, or even the player. At the time, I felt that it was another attempt, beyond the owl, for the Wind Fish to be reaching out. The owl being the part that wants to wake up, and the warning being the part that wants the people to continue living.

I also agree with you on the timeline placement. If I remember correctly, the original timeline did place them as such, but then there was a swapping around of some games. There was a reasoning I had herd, but I forget what it was.