Terror Through Time: Horror Elements in The Legend of Zelda by Tim Yockey (An Excerpt)

Death Mountain has exploded, erupting as a volcano and burning the skies with its ash. Even the once beautiful plains connecting the various locations of this world are occupied by ghosts during the day and werewolves by night.

Ganondorf, the fiendish wizard, has stricken his rivals with malaise to prevent them from rising up against him,: freezing one town in ice and capturing another town’s population to sacrifice to a hungry dragon that dwells inside Death Mountain’s volcanic depths. The remaining remnants of human civilization have flocked to a small village nearby, waiting for a hero to come save them. A young man named Link just happens to be the answer to their prayers.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time...is an open-world, 3D adventure compared to its lineage of top down dungeon crawling. The contrast between a gloomy yet beautiful childhood and a twisted, corrupted shell of its former glory as an adult made for a compelling reason to take down the dastardly Ganondorf and free the kingdom of Hyrule from his tyrannical grip.

The Great Deku Tree has gone barking mad.

Zelda gives a fright in a more non-traditional manner. One of my favorite moments is when the player is deep in a dungeon, slaying monsters like it’s their job (which it is, actually) and solving frustrating puzzles.

Link enters a seemingly empty room when a shadow emerges underneath him. Not knowing why, the shadow appears to be shrinking until a giant, disembodied hand plucks our intrepid adventurer from the ceiling and takes him back to the beginning of the lair, having to face all that the dungeon has to offer once more.

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