Mythology Gag / The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

A list of Mythology Gags from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Considering how many of these there are in the game (to the point that reviewers have pointed it out), it only makes sense that the game comes during the series's Milestone Celebration.

• The E3 2010 debut trailer opens with a montage of images from previous 3D Zelda games: the Hero of Time riding Epona, Majora's Mask, the Hero of Winds sailing in The King of Red Lions, and the Hero of Twilight running in wolf form.
  • The music in that part also has parts of Zelda's Lullaby, the Clock Town theme from Majora's Mask, the title theme from The Wind Waker, and the Hyrule Field theme from Twilight Princess. And the orchestra music part was also originally composed for Twilight Princess, though never previously used in-game.
• In a nod to the entirety of the series, the yearly ceremony at the start of the game happens to be the 25th one.
  • Also, when you meet with the Thunder Dragon, he offers to add serial numbers to your name just like his robots. Namely Link-16, as this is the sixteenth Zelda game if the non-canon CD-i titles are excluded.
• Many of the character designs are clearly pulled from either the soft cartoon style of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or the caricatured realism of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, mixing character art styles from Zelda's most distinct aesthetic departures.
• The main melody of the Ballad of the Goddess is actually Zelda's Lullaby played backwards, which is actually somewhat spoilery if you deduce it, as Zelda is a human incarnation of the Goddess.
  • The theme that plays when The Imprisoned is sealed is Zelda's Lullaby reversed, but in minor key.
• Levias is a Wind Fish. Hope he doesn't dream....
• You can use bird statues all around the place to save, quit, and teleport, just like Majora's Mask.
• Demise, as pointed out on the main page, references quite a few of the other Zelda bosses:
  • He has a star-shaped scar on his forehead.
  • He has the ability to teleport to a different realm and use it to his advantage.
  • He uses his own spells to initiate destruction on the world, while still appearing in an ironically happy place, the same as Majora and The Moon, respectively.
  • Killed by a a fatal blow, with the camera changing angle to keep you from seeing the actual entry wound.
  • His other, less powerful form is resurrected as a giant, mindless, rampaging beast. In the Oracle games, Koume and Kotake were only able to resurrect Ganon as a mindless, rampaging beast.
• Beedle's ancestor makes an appearance, with the same theme from The Wind Waker and the same grunt when you come in. He also runs the shop from the sky that can only be entered after getting his attention (in this game, by firing a weapon at the bell to get him to lower a rope)... Sound familiar?
• Zelda's father makes an appearance, named Gaepora, referencing Kaepora Gaebora. His laugh even sounds like an owl hoot! It helps that he also bears a resemblance to Rauru, who was confirmed shortly after the game was released to actually be the human form of Kaepora Gaebora.
• In the Silent Realm, you collect tears in a container identical to the one in Twilight Princess.
  • The Silent Realms themselves are quite similar in concept to the central temples of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, with invincible guardians who can kill Link in one hit and sentries who will alert those guardians if they see Link.
• The entrances to a good number of the dungeons dip downward in a manner reminiscent of the dungeon entrances from the first game. The Ancient Cistern's entrance even looks like a mouth, or to be more specific, a fish's mouth. Angler Cavern and the Catfish's Maw from Link's Awakening immediately spring to mind.
• Traveling Gorons return, though they aren't merchants this time.
• The Temple of Time is in the game.
  • A chronologically later game showed that there are, in fact, two Temples of Time. The first one is in Lanaryu Desert, which looks to be in the same location as Arbiter's Grounds. The second one is in the Sealed Grounds, which is in the same place as the Lost Woods. The past version of Twilight Princess' Temple of Time at the top floor is eerily similar to where you get the Master Sword in this game. Piecing this all together, the island where you get the Master Sword was bound to drop at some point.
    • Hyrule Historia even confirms that the Temple of Time seen in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess was built over the ruins of the Sealed Temple.
• The surface's provinces are named after provinces from Twilight Princess, with at least one corresponding to a sub-area in TP (Faron Woods).
• Stalfos Pirates apparently sail in Lanayru Desert.
• The player can pilot a boat for the third time in the series, and it even comes equipped with a cannon. It's piloted in a more direct manner than the previous ones, however.
• Once again, Zelda goes into a deep sleep, and is locked into a crystal.
  • When she emerges from it, the crystal breaks similarly to the ones holding the maidens in Four Swords Adventures.
• The first item you get in the game is a sailcloth, and you use this in tandem with Link's Loftwing, which is red. In The Wind Waker, you had to find a sail for the King of Red Lions, a boat you use to travel in the game's overworld.
  • The sailcloth works very similarly to the Deku Leaf.
• The Skyloftians acquire their Loftwings in a very similar manner to the Kokiri and their fairies.
• The bottom of the boss room in the Lanayru Mining Facility has a turntable and trains in a manner similar to the Tower of Spirits in Spirit Tracks.
• The Goddess Harp is the same one that Sheik uses.
• The symbols of the six sages can be found on the arch leading up to the Goddess Statue and the Sealed Grounds.
• Zelda has a Tingle plushie in her room.
• The Gust Bellows is similar to the Gust Jar from The Minish Cap, as are the Mogma Mitts to the Mole Mitts.
• "It's a secret to everybody" is uttered by a Kikwi hermit. It's also said by a Parella.
• The pit of bones in the Ancient Cistern have a striking resemblance to similar rooms in the Shadow Temple in Ocarina Of Time.
• The intro sequence is very similar to the one from The Wind Waker, narrating a legend that forms the backstory of the game, depicted in an ancient art style (medieval art for The Wind Waker, cave paintings for Skyward Sword).
  • Not to mention that the stories are very similar: The land was idyllic before, but an ancient evil rose from the earth, conquering the land and making life miserable. The people prayed for divine intervention, they got it in the form of sealing the evil away in the land below while the survivors went on to live on islands above it.
• Once again, there's a hand in the toilet that wants paper.
  • A more subtle one is that in Majora's Mask, the player could give the hand a few different pieces of paper, one of which is a letter between two lovers. Here, the only piece of paper you can give the hand is a love letter.
• The animation of the Triforce assembling itself is oddly similar to another Triforce animation in the intro of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
• The boss of the Ancient Cistern requires you to pick up his sword and slash him, a Call-Back to using monsters' weapons in The Wind Waker.
• The Master Sword before it is blessed by Zelda looks very similar to the unempowered Master Sword from The Wind Waker, with the wings folded in.
  • Similarly, two of the upgrades the Sacred Flames give to the Goddess Sword are a sharper edge (from Farore's Flame) and a sacred white light that demons revile (from Din's Flame). These were the same things the blessings of the two sages restored to the Master Sword in The Wind Waker.
• The Skyward Strike can be executed in a variety of ways that evoke other uses of the Sword Beam, as well as other attacks in the series. Stabbing will create a straight projectile in a similar fashion to the first game, slashing will make a crescent-shaped spiraling projectile, and spin-attacking will have a similar effect to the Great Spin.
• Pipit's name in the German version is Cuco.
• When Link defeats the Imprisoned, the effect used is the same as when a Twilit enemy is killed in Twilight Princess, followed immediately by the animation that plays when the remains of a boss would be pulled together to form a fused shadow/mirror shard.
• The miniboss fight in the Earth Temple (a fire-based temple where you earn the Bomb Bag) is two Lizalfos, with the room being made up of many hexagons, much like the miniboss room in Dodongo's Cavern from Ocarina.
• Loftwings are the birds always depicted on the Hylian shield and other Hylian designs. Of course, like the emblem on the shield, Link flies a red one.
• Link's reaction to touching lava — leaping into the air with the seat of his pants on fire — is the same as Toon Link's. Contrast the more realistic actions when he drowns in water or sand.
• Impa appears as both the young guardian, a la Ocarina, and an old, blue-cloaked advisor like in Zelda II.
• After the third dungeon, the Big Bad nearly gets Zelda, but she escapes thanks to Link and Impa and throws Link the magical instrument of the game, just like in Ocarina.
• If you throw one of the pots in Skyloft close to a person, they will jump and be startled for a second. Fledge's animation really looks like the guy you have to scare in the café in The Wind Waker (by throwing down pots, too).
• The ability to grab rupees and hearts with your sword returns from games such as the original and the Game Boy ones.
• There's numerous Musical Nods as well.
  • As stated above, The Ballad of the Goddess is Zelda's Lullaby in reverse. The original Zelda's Lullaby also returns as an orchestral rearrangement, when Link first meets Zelda in the past.
    • Similarly, Nayru's Wisdom is the Serenade of Water's ocarina part in reverse.
  • Link's Leitmotif, the Song of the Hero, is a rearrangement of the music that started it all. The closing credits also contains a less modified version.
  • The song that plays before you enter the fourth Silent Realm is an arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme from Ocarina of Time.
  • The BGM during a few of the cutscenes with Demise contain a few strings from Ganondorf's theme as shown in Ocarina of Time.
  • The horns that some of the Bokoblins in the Horde blow play a hilariously mangled version of the Flute Boy's song.
  • The Mogma theme sounds very similar to a song cut from Oracle Of Seasons.
  • The theme that plays while riding on your Loftwing features a snippet from the overworld theme from Zelda II.
• A puzzle in the Lanayru Mine has a solution that involves triggering three things in the order 2-3-1. Twenty-three is number one!
• The third form of the Goddess Sword is called the Goddess White Sword. The original game had a sword called the White Sword that served as that game's Infinity -1 Sword.
  • The White Sword was also the name of the Four Sword before it was infused with the elements.
• At the end of the game, Zelda asks you what you want to do. In Spirit Tracks, Zelda asks the exact same thing near the end of the game, serving as a branch for the game's multiple endings.
• You can collect bugs and give them to someone for rupees.
  • Two of the bugs — the Deku Hornet and Gerudo Dragonfly — reference races that don't show up in this game but have in previous ones.
    • Octoroks with plants growing on them appear in the game. This is an intentional nod to Deku Scrubs, which were functionally plant-based octoroks in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
• Similar to in The Wind Waker, there are tornadoes on the overworld that send you flying off your Loftwing.
• Skyloft grows pumpkins, similar to Ordon Village.
• The Gate of Time bears an uncanny resemblance to the Mirror of Twilight.
• Near the end of the game, Ghirahim prepares to sacrifice Zelda to Demise, and the ritual looks a lot like the one used by Agahnim when he sacrifices the Maidens to break the seal on Ganon, complete with levitating victim.
• The way Fi leads you to the Goddess Sword for the first time is very reminiscent of following the ghost of Darmani in Majora's Mask.
  • And following the Zora queen in Twilight Princess.
• Professor Owlan, with his white hair and dark skin, looks similar to the Rito tribe in The Wind Waker.
• The people who hang out at the Lumpy Pumpkin somewhat resemble the group that hangs out in Telma's Bar in Twilight Princess.
• The recurring symbols in each of the three sections of Hyrule are the icons used to represent songs in Oracle of Ages.
  • More importantly, they're the symbols of the Three Goddesses: Din, Farore, and Nayru.
  • Like Oracle of Ages, said songs are played on a harp.
• Also resembling Oracle of Ages is the Stone of Trials. A statue is missing a red eye early in both games with foreshadowing by a character that it'll be important later. Said gem is obtained late in the story to open the way into one of the last dungeons in the game. The area in Oracle of Ages even tests you on Power, Wisdom, and Courage, while Skyward Sword's leads to the Sky Keep, where those Triforce pieces are hidden.
• Throwing bombs into baskets is a common way to progress during the Lanayru region. The idea was first used in a mini-game in Majora's Mask, and throwing a bomb into a basket held by a statue to knock it down was used in The Wind Waker.
• At the beginning of the game, Zelda acts similarly to Marin from Link's Awakening, being a cheerful girl who plays the harp, lives on an isolated island, and wants to explore a part of the world that is blocked by a barrier and is considered by most people to have nothing worth seeing even if they could reach it.
• Similar to the above, Groose has a lot in common with Ralph; both are rather obnoxious, have strangely styled red hair, and have intimate feelings for the local harp playing girl that has a special connection to one of the Goddesses, and due to this feeling become a rival of sorts to Link, until they loosen up later in the game and come to respect Link.
• Once again, Link has to collect tadpoles that double as musical notes and teach him a song.
• The fighting system in the game, while more directly inspired by Wii Sports Resort's swordplay modes, is also similar to how you fight many enemies in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, as you have to attack from the right position to get past the enemy's defenses.
• Using the Beetle is pretty much identical to controlling seagulls in The Wind Waker.
• Planting a bomb next to a Shiekah Stone will cause it to blast off into the sky, similar to Ocarina of Time's and Majora's Mask's Gossip Stones.
• The way that the pieces of the Triforce restore your life energy when you obtain them is very similar to how the shards of the Triforce of Wisdom did the same thing in the original game.
• The conclusion to the Thunder Dragon quest is similar to two parts of Oracle of Ages: you have to plant a tree in the past then travel forward in time to when it's full grown, and you find a character dead in the present who you then have to cure of his illness in the past.
• Characters that appear to be Ancient Hylian writing can be found in the first room of Sky Keep. Unfortunately, they don't seem to actually mean anything.
• Link is starting to develop a history of getting violently shaken by another character. First the Happy Mask Salesman in Majora's Mask, later Linebeck in Phantom Hourglass, then Alfonzo in Spirit Tracks, and this time around it's Groose.
• Just like in Ocarina of Time, our first introduction to Link is seeing him have a nightmare about the Big Bad.
• When you rescue the Mogmas from the Fire Sanctuary, their dialogue is similar to the carpenters you had to rescue from the Gerudo Fortress in Ocarina of Time.
• When you collect the final Triforce, the Silent Realm takes on a golden hue before you leave... in A Link to the Past, where was the Triforce said to have been kept in the backstory? The Golden Land!
  • The place where you actually get the Triforce? It's in a blue-colored room in an alternate dimension. Yup. They apparently haven't forgotten about that one.
• YMMV on whether fan content counts, but one remembers a fan video series where, to retrieve the Triforce, a villainous character travels to the Sacred Realm by stabbing the ground at a certain place. Now, think about how you enter any Silent Realm, ESPECIALLY the ones containing the Triforce fragments...
• Ghirahim's cloak has a similar design to the Gilded Sword. This is either this or a major coincidence, considering that Ghirahim is a sword.
• You get an item from a high place in a building by running into the wall and knocking it down, like you get the book from the library in A Link to the Past or Link's Awakening. The building's owner is not happy about this.
• You can use the bug-catching net against one of the game's major bosses.
• Timeshift Orbs resemble Sols.
  • Hyrule Historia points out that they're the same color as the Ocarina of Time, which it then hints is made from Timeshift Stones.
• A river god behind the waterfalls gives Link an item that helps him breathe underwater, in the same way you gain the flippers from the Zora in A Link to the Past.
  • You get it in the form of a scale, similar to how different scales let you hold your breath longer in Ocarina of Time.
• Fi's face resembles the Fairy Queen. So does Ghirahim's, eventually.
• Cursed Bokoblins are basically this game's iteration of the ReDeads. They're somewhat goofy-looking, but they still pounce on you in the same manner and both share a hatred of light. If you hold up something that's shiny in appearance, they cower away in fear, just like how ReDeads are paralyzed by light from the Mirror Shield.
• The Watchers in the Silent Realms bear a striking resemblance to the Poe Collector.
• While this is more like continuing the tradition, Link once again wakes up to start the game.
• Groose's theme sounds similar to the Pirates' theme in Wind Waker. Like the pirates, he also uses a giant catapult to launch Link into certain areas.
• There is a woman in Skyloft who forces Link to pay for broken pots, just like in Wind Waker.
• Bokoblins have a settlement in Eldin Volcano similar to the Bulblin camp outside Arbiter's Grounds in Twilight Princess.
• The game's cover is colored gold, just like several games before it!
• The second seal you draw for The Imprisoned is an hourglass.
• The birds on the surface look a lot like the ones in the Fortress of Winds.
• At the end of the game, Fi, who has become the Master Sword, has her consciousness fade into the blade, and enter a deep, eternal sleep. In other words, the Master Sword sleeps again, forever. The line itself is never said, so it is more of a stealth gag, if it was intended at all.
  • And just like in that game, the line is proven false just a couple games later, when Fi regains consciousness to influence the events of Breath of the Wild.
• Continuing the Legend of Zelda tradition of certain rock formations, Spectacle Rock makes an appearance for the first time since Twilight Princess. However, unlike every other game it's been in, it is not seen in a playable area of the game, but only as part of the Eldin Province art on the map screen, where it sits between the Eldin Volcano and Volcano Summit statue points.
• Fairies can be caught with bottles... or, if you are so inclined, you can catch one with your bug net.
• The Ancient Cistern has an early puzzle involving a "sacred order" which turns out to be Up, Down, Right, Left. This isn't the first time a dungeon associated with Farore had that exact order considered extremely important to it.
• Ghirahim is the latest in a line of characters who hum/sing/play their own background themes, along with Saria, Impa, Malon, Ganondorf, and Midna.
• Multi-layered references to the Oracle games exist within the game's three settings:
  • The Eldin Province was once a prosperous realm that was brought to ruin by the chaotic and destructive forces of nature, leaving Link to make changes to the landscape while keeping safe from volcanic activity. The same thing nearly happened in Holodrum and Subrosia while Din was sealed away. Meanwhile, the Lanayru Province was filled with sadness and sorrow due to damage dealt over the passing of ages, with Link having to solve problems by moving between past and present, just like in Labrynna when Nayru's power was used for evil. And then we have Faron Woods, which apart from being dominated by a large tree, doesn't really stand out in comparison to the other two — just like Farore, the Oracle of Secrets, who resided inside the Maku Tree in both games, and didn't have much purpose beyond acting as a liaison between the two games.
  • This also extends to the songs that are pertinent to each area: Din's Power is a peppy and upbeat tune that's well-suited for an outgoing dancer like the Oracle of Seasons, while Nayru's Wisdom is solemn and gentle, befitting a singer and harpist like the Oracle of Ages.
• Collecting a gold rupee prompts the line "Shh... Don't tell anyone!", a line used in the Oracle of Seasons game whenever you found a man in a secret spot that gives you Rupees in an alternative to the above "It's a secret to everybody" nod.