Recently, I did something seemingly unthinkable. I read up on the locations of various towns in Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. Personally, I could go without this game based on what I've heard (but I could be wrong, maybe it is better than I've been led to believe... after all I've always loved Zelda games in which you could preform magic).
What caught my eye, though, was how prevalent the names of towns in this particular Zelda game have become in the remainder of the series! I'll start out with some of the more readily available names, and work my way to less memorable ones.
Rauru, the famous Sage of Light from OoT originally was the name of one of the first towns in the The Adventure of Link. Ruto, the name of the race of Bird-like people descendant of the Zora clan, was originally the name of a town as well. Remember Death Mountain in OoT? Yeah, that was also named before then, Death Mountain was a location in Adventure of Link. Saria, Sage of the Forest? Yeah, she was originally a town... of water. If you ever played Wind Waker, you might remember Spectacle Isle/Eyeglass Isle, which seems eerily similar to "Spectacle Rock" from The Adventure of Link. How about Mido, the annoying brat Kokiri who refuses to let you pass him without a shield and sword, or playing Saria's song? Yeah, guess what, named after a port town in TAoL. How about Nabooru, the wise Sage of Spirit in OoT, who happened to be named after a town from TAoL. Darunia was also named after a town, one on a mountain, in fact. That would certainly explain why the name was given to a Goron elder. Of course, Death Valley from TAoL could be considered related to the Gerudo Valley and its infamous Haunted Wasteland... but the connection isn't as direct.
My point is that however much I never played this game, and didn't feel I needed to play it in order to know the premise of the Zelda Storyline, I found it amazing how frequently Zelda has gone back to some of its roots to use old names for new characters/locations/races. I'm sure for players who played TAoL, these names recurring in newer games has been akin to an easter egg. I, for one, am just a bit surprised as to how many towns/locations in TAoL were reused.
Oh, Miyamoto and Zelda team, how your mysteries continue to astound me, and please me to no end. I shall remain at your mercy for as long as Zelda is around. If you have any thoughts you'd like to voice, feel free to comment. What do you think about the reusage of previous names?
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