Five dangerous children’s toys from Link’s Awakening.
Mermaid Scale: The scale of a mermaid given to Link
after he has returned the mermaid’s missing bikini top, or her necklace in the
tamer US release. This scale opens a secret passage hidden behind a statue of amournful mermaid. Theoretically, the mermaid is morning the single missing
scale that holds it back from being a perfect masterpiece.
Emira and Malik were
sad when they had to leave their friends behind when they moved to a new town.
Nothing could have prepared them for finding a magical dragon scale hidden inside a
hollow wall of their new home. This prismatic dragon scale pulled Emira and
Malik into a world inhabited by tyrannical dragons and their groveling
servitors. Only the boldest or most guileful dragons are able to maintain
control of their fiefdoms for long. The draconic overlords constantly
play a brutal game for supremacy of the Dragonlands, where their underlings are the disposable
pieces. Quetzal, a devious dragon of minor influence discovered Emira and Malik
just after they arrived in the Dragonlands. After learning about Emira and
Malik’s pastoral home, Quetzal is more than willing to help the siblings
discover a way back, if only so they might come to that world as a conqueror.
Hookshot: The most interesting thing about the
Hookshot in Link’s Awakening is the manner Link must earn it. Instead of being
recovered from a chest after defeating the dungeon’s mini boss, Link must hunt
down a skeletal knight that stole the hookshot from a chest after it was bested
by Link in combat. Link must defeat Master Stalfos a total of five times before
getting the hookshot. Out of context having to take back something that was
stolen doesn’t seem all too original. Remember though, Zelda games have trained
players to expect an almost immediate reward for defeating the dungeon’s mini
boss. Having that expectation subverted as a monster runs off with your
treasure is a very powerful call to arms.
Yawgmoth Technologies has been the industry leader in at home robotics since their helpertron-100 officially created the mainstream in-home robotics market. YT’s newest addition to the in home robotics market is the Play Buddy Platform. A modular unit designed to endure years of wear and tear as your child’s stalwart robotic companion. It can also be fitted with replacement limbs in the event of damage or to more closely match your child in size and shape as they develop. Isolated stories of children being attacked by their Play Buddy Platform Companions have surfaced on the web tabloids. No major news outlet has been able to confirm any of these stories so the public is beginning to brush off the hysteria as nothing concrete has been reported. One particularly disturbing report tells of a child having body parts surgically replaced by their PBP Companion while their parents were away at work. The parents were only alerted to the situation when the child began to speak in an unnaturally deep voice. When examined by a medical professional, the child was found to have mechanical limbs under convincing synthetic skin, an artificial voice box, and a cerebral implant. The story goes on to say the bionic child broke out of the hospital in a rampage that claimed thirteen lives. Since nothing like this was reported on the news streams, most people say it simply could not have happened and dismiss the entire story as a well-orchestrated prank.
Tail key: This is one of five keys in Link’s
Awakening that open dungeons Link must explore to complete his quest. This key
is deep inside of a forest haunted by a malevolent tanuki. To successfully
navigate the forest, Link must remove the curse from the tanuki haunting the
forest. The creatures is actually a local mushroom forager that has been transformed by the curse. The mushroom forager is very
reminiscent of Mario as he looks like Mario, loves mushrooms, and turns into a
tanuki.
Researchers have been flooding into to a newly
discovered continent. According to reports from the explorers, the continent is
filled by abandoned ruins of some fallen civilization and inhabited only by
exotic species barely recognizable as being related to their well-known
cousins. One such species are the thunder lizards. Thunder lizards are
reptilian creatures that spit lightning and have a thunderous roar. So many
specimens have been sent back to the Brightstar Institute that they are needing to be stored in warehouses all over the city. Looking for an edge, local street kids broke into the institute’s
warehouse and stole thunder lizard tails after a newspaper article reported the tails carry
enough charge to knock out a fully grown adult. The well-armed hooligans
have quickly become the ruling party of the lower end neighborhoods.
Ribbon: If you don’t think this is just the
perfect accessory for your little pet chain chomp, you and Link’s Awakening
have different ideas about pet fashion. Link trades a yoshi doll, second overt
Mario reference, for the bow and then trades the bow to a chain chomp owner for
a can of dog food. It is unclear whether canned chain chomp food is simply not
an available product, or if the owner does not understand exactly what they
have in their home.
People who do not have much learn to do a lot
with a little. When the Hrafenaugen family
needed a ribbon to tie back their child’s hair, they used whatever
ribbon they had available. They had forgotten the ribbon the used was found in
a box that had been buried in the back lot of their new home. The box was only
discovered when the land was being plowed to make room for a small vegetable
patch. The ribbons were once used to bind the eyes of an oracle in a vain
attempt to stop their prophetic visions. The oracle was held in bonds in the
remote cabin for many years. During that time the ribbons became infused with
their oracular powers. Wearing the ribbons in their hair, the child has begun
speaking cryptic prophecies. Originally the visions only concerned local
mundane affairs but lately the child’s utterances concern the fates of cities
and nations. It can’t be long until someone takes notice of these incredible
gifts and starts asking questions.
Pegasus Boots: In Link’s Awakening, Link can
combine the boots’ dash with the sword to complete a charging attack or use the
Roc’s feather while dashing to jump greater distances. Using speed items in
conjunction with other items always feels a little cooler for players.
The drawing for these boots is very much
inspired by the Flash. I am still inexperienced at drawing feet/footwear so
these ended up feeling a bit like moccasin style boots. Maybe these boots
belonged to a Native American Speedster?
The boots of blinding speed earn their name by
obscuring the wearer’s vision to near total blindness while increasing their
running speed to superhuman levels. These boots had been in a museum for many
years until the capital city was sacked during a surprise invasion. Children
scavenging through the rubble of the city found the boots and have been sharing
them to enliven their games of tag. The children are loathe to tell their
parents what they have found, but sooner or later someone is going to get hurt
sprinting blind through the debris strewn city.
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If you were interested in Native American fantasy worlds, check out Orken. It takes place in lands populated by diverse ork
tribes that must cooperate to fight back against heavily armored colonial
aggressors from another land.
This is the first of thirteen posts for Link’sAwakening. The collected card set should be available in about twelve weeks.
Use this in your personal life however you see
fit. Don’t profit off my work without my consent. And as always, be excellent
to everybody.
-Ceph
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