Cards: Link's Awakening Complete Set

Here is my take on every item in Link's Awakening. You can go here for a pdf containing all the cards in a printable format.

I like to look back at my progress when I reach these milestones. It is clear to me that every drawing is not created equal. I am really happy with some of these; the organ, secret medicine, and slime key jump out as my top three. I am less happy with others; the coral triangle, second magnifying glass, and marimba are some of my least favorite from this set. Overall I am satisfied with the set. When I get down about some lackluster work I try to remember that this blog isn't about producing high art, it is about practicing my drawing and being creatively fulfilled, and I am happy to have published four complete sets. 

As I write this Ocarina of Time is completely drawn and ready for posting and I am wrapping up work on the items from Majora's Mask. I've got plenty more posts to go before I can say I have drawn and posted ever item in the Zelda franchise. 

Thank you for sticking around. You can check out the other completed sets here. Next week we will be starting our trek through the items of Ocarina of Time.

Please don't profit off my work without my consent, but feel free to use these personally as you see fit. 

Make sure to be excellent to everyone. 

-Ceph

I'm not an artist: The last four items from Link's Awakening that you could also find in a faerie court.

Four items from Link’s Awakening you could find in a fey court.

Full Moon Cello: This is the first dungeon instrument that Link recovers on Koholint Island. I kept my interpretation close to the official game art because the concept is so wonderful. 

The Cello de Lun is said to have the most beautiful song in all of the Four Courts of Tempus. The instrument’s strings are gossamer strands of moonlight and as such can only be played at night under the open sky. Boastful members of the Tempus Faerie claim to have heard the immaculate song of the Cello de Lun, but rumors say that only the luthier that crafted the instrument has ever heard it played. There is little hope to ever hear the cello played as it sits in the vast treasure vaults beneath the grand city of Everday, the seat of the Estival Court, where the sun never sets. 

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link's Awakening you could find in a New Year’s Celebrations.

Five items from Link's Awakening you could find in a New Year’s Celebrations.

Yoshi Doll: Link must win the Yoshi doll in a claw game. This nod to the Mario franchise is the first item in the trading sequence. 

The Caverns of Ygg are home to a number of settlements that have prospered among the subterranean mushroom forests and lightless rivers. Life underground is fraught with many perils. To prepare children and new arrivals for the particular issues that face cavern dwellers, puppet shows are performed in theaters, churches, common halls, and even the streets. Classic examples of plays include The Raptors of Ygg, a play that details the hunting methods of the dangerous reptilian predator, The Poisoned Spring, a play concerning how to determine water quality, and The Dust of Madness, a cautionary tale concerning the spores of the fungal forests. 

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link’s Awakening an aristocratic child might have on a grand adventure

Five items from Link’s Awakening a children might have on a planar adventure.

Face Key: The dungeon keys in Link’s Awakening are matched to the theme of each dungeon. The Face Key fits in a face shaped lock that opens the Face Shrine.

With the suspicious deaths of each of their parents, three orphans were sent to stay with Lady Vitalia Soriano, the guardian named in all three wills. Lady Soriano graciously welcomed the children into her home. They were permitted to enjoy the entirety of her modest estate save the family mausoleum on the fringe of the property. The children resisted their curiosity for many weeks until the pull of the forbidden tomb was too great to resist. The children were disappointed when they entered the mausoleum only to discover a simple resting place for the Soriano family honored dead. As the three were about to leave the tomb, one noticed an errant mandible lying atop a coffin. As the child placed the jawbone back into the casket, the mausoleum left their world and appeared in a lifeless expanse populated only by other mausoleums, tombs, and graves. 

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link’s Awakening you could find in the Grand Bazar.

Five items from Link’s Awakening you could find in the Grand Bazar.

Magic Powder: Link is by no means an accomplished mage so he needs this magic powder to cast even the most basic feits, such as lighting a torch without a spark. 

The Grand Bazaar is a major nexus for the wealth of many countries and even a few planes. Many people come to the Bazaar looking to make their fortunes. Of course not everyone find their fortune. In fact, many people lose everything and end up having to find creative methods to earn their next meal. Some of those methods involve earning a living through pickpocketing and purse-cutting. Visitors to the Grand Bazaar are often warned to never carry all their coin at once and to always make sure to bind their purse with a stout cord or sturdy chain.

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link’s Awakening a demon hunter would carry.

Five items from Link’s Awakening a demon hunter would carry.

Secret Seashell: If Link is able to find enough of the seashells that are hidden throughout Koholint Island, he can have his sword enchanted by the ghost haunting a mansion. I was surprised to find a gather quest in such an early Zelda game. I don’t remember this aspect of the game at all so there is a good chance I missed it playing the game as a kid.

Every demon hunter identifies their quarry differently. Early in her career, Vasilisa discovered a shell that whispered infernal secrets instead of the soft sounds of the ocean. In time she found she could make sense of the daemonic chittering. Somehow this shell was able to listen in on conversations between infernal entities hiding in the mortal world. Vasilisa has made a name successfully hunting creatures that specialize in hiding in plain sight. Sooner or later, someone will realize the secret to her success. What happens if the demons she hunts learn someone is listening to their private conversations?

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link's Awakening found in a detective story.

Five items from Link’s Awakening a pulp investigator would have. 

Flippers: Link uses these to dive below the surface of water. 

Every private investigator knows they will eventually be called to sneak into some abandoned building through the inevitably flooded basement. With a pair of trusty flippers and a lung full of air, there is no limit to the trouble an investigator can get themselves into.

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link's Awakening a burglar would have.

Five items from Link’s Awakening you can find in a cat burglar’s bag.

Mermaid's necklace: These pearls replaced the mermaid’s bikini top in the american releases of Link’s Awakening. It was clearly a reflection of the values of the time to censor the implication of a topless mermaid. 

The Pearls of the Empress are a string of flawless pink and white pearls held together by gossamer strands of translucent kelp. It was the prize of the undersea exhibit in the Royal Museum of Imperial Expansion. The museum houses the spoils of the many expeditionary crusades that pushed the empire to its furthest extent. News of the theft has been kept from the public. Those with knowledge of the theft believe it to be a political statement. After many years of stagnation, the empire’s control has begun to wane. Official fear news of the theft would be seen as a symbol for the reclamation of power back from the empire by the peoples that have been absorbed by its expansions. Seeking to avoid widespread rebellion, the Imperial Police have abandoned official protocol in the search for the pearls.

I'm not an artist: Five items from Link’s Awakening that you could find in a Merfolk Ambassador’s suite.

Five items from Link’s Awakening that you could find in a Merfolk Ambassador’s suite. 

Magic rod: While this rod may appear to be generic in its magical properties, it can really only throw fireballs. However limited the magic in this rod may be, Link gets a lot of mileage out of this bottomless Roman candle.

One must carry an ambassador’s scepter of office to be recognized as an emissary of the Merfolk Diaspora. Holding the scepter keeps the bearer’s skin from drying out when outside of water, allows them to breathe air or water interchangeably, and offers the ability to communicate in the major languages of whatever area the ambassador is stationed. When a new ambassador is appointed, the scepter is presented to them as part of a secretive ritual that links the new owner to the scepter.

I'm not an artist: Five archaeological items from Link's Awakening.

Five items from Link’s Awakening that could lead to the location of a missing archaeologist. 

Letter: A love letter written by a goat pretending to be a beautiful woman. That sentence is why I enjoy soft fantasy as a genre. A millennia of established world building isn’t needed to have a Goat live in Animal Village.

A letter from the archaeologist Dr. Colleen Tannis has arrived requesting funds for her next expedition. Dr.Tannis has a reputation for pursuing forbidden histories and secrets better left forgotten. For the last few years, Dr. Tannis has been searching for the lost city of Inan. Legends speak of the fateful night when the many sages of Inan sought to elevate one of their own to godhood using a long lost ritual. The stories do not agree whether the ritual was a success, but they do all agree that every inhabitant of Inan and those in the surrounding area were killed in an instant. Few in academic circles truly believe the infamous city ever existed, but Dr. Tannis is undeterred. Since this letter was postmarked almost four months ago and no one in the academic world has heard from Colleen in almost six months, Dr. Tannis is probably obsessing over artifacts uncovered in some far-flung dig site after securing funding from some private source.

I'm not an artist: Five Link's Awakening items found in an Academy for Witches.

Five items from Link’s Awakening you can find at the Sibylline Academy for Witches.

Broom: Link is given the broom in thanks for delivering a letter to a lonely man in a long distance relationship. The relationship is actually a sham. Mr. Write is actually being catfished as the photo included in the letter is not representative of the letter’s author. 

Any witch worth their salt rides a broom. In her youth, Josephine Sibyl was bullied mercilessly for being too poor to buy a broom. Instead she had to borrow a worn broom from the school and return it at the end of every semester. Josephine Sibyl eventually rose to fame as a wildly talented witch and champion of the common people. Her adventures earned her much renown and even more gold. When Josephine founded the Sibylline Academy for Witches, she left it an enormous endowment to ensure that any student in need have the equipment essential for an arcane education provided at no cost. The endowment has grown over the many years due to Sibylline graduates happily donating to the endowment that gave them the tools to succeed when they were in need. 

I'm not an artist: Five Items from Link's Awakening you can use this Labor Day Weekend.

Five items you could use this Labor Day weekend appearing in Link’s Awakening.

Small key: A minor key with plenty of uses. I drew this one as a more modern house or lock key. I don't think many people would be too offended at this apocryphal key shape appearing in their pseudo-medieval fantasy settings. If you are one of those offended people, I guess stay out of my topsy-turvy genre blending universe. 

With summer unofficially coming to a close, racers are scrambling to secure spots in the last big race of the season. Alejandra Ricco has had a great season, but with her recent disasters on the track she needs something like a miracle to finish the season on the podium. While working under her car after hours, Alejandra heard what sounded like footsteps approaching her workbench and then her keys falling to the ground. Alejandra didn't see anyone when she came up from below the car, but she found nine identical keys on her keyring that weren’t there early that day. Each key was warm to the touch with “wanna race?” etched into its face in a script she could barely decipher. Ever curious, Alejandra stuck one of the keys into her ignition and the car roared to life. In the same instant, the key was consumed in a gout of flame. For a few hours after, the car was in pristine condition but it slowly deteriorated into the same mess it was before and now also smelling of Sulphur. With nine races left in the season, has she just wasted an opportunity she can’t get back or can she find a way to win the season on her own without the help of the mysterious benefactor?

I'm not an artist: Five dangerous toys from Link's Awakening

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.