real world mythology in zelda

i have noticed several examples of real world mythology in the zelda games. for example the bremen mask is a reference to the grimm brothers story called the bremen town musicians, which is a really famous old fairy tale. also, epona was the name of a horse goddess in some western european pagan religions and later it was the name of a horse in english/welsh legend. i bet there are other examples and i was wondering if anyone knew of any.

Many games NINTENDO makes some characters and items are based on real-life things.

A lot of people think there are elements of the games taken from Christianity. Don't know if I agree with that or not, but there are definitely aspects of other religions and fairy tales in Zelda. Of course, any mythical game is going to bare resemblance to previous myths in some way

yeah i know but what i mentioned were blatant and intentional allusions

Originally Posted by Erimgard

A lot of people think there are elements of the games taken from Christianity. Don't know if I agree with that or not, but there are definitely aspects of other religions and fairy tales in Zelda. Of course, any mythical game is going to bare resemblance to previous myths in some way

What wont Christianity take credit for *shakes head*

Everything in any shape or form comes from something mythological, I don't think it applies AS much in Zelda because if they did use some mythological stuff its pretty well disguised and altered for their needs.

im not talking about epic thematical simalarities as much as i intended this discussion to be about direct allusions to myths, legends, folklore, etc. but i do appreciate what everyone has already contributed. By the way, what the hell is that dark temptations thing?

I think its cool that nintedo puts real life history into zelda.

Not that it's really nintendo, but every Final Fantasy game can be relayed to real life events that happened in history. It's all based on historic events. It's pretty awesome to me.

Its always cool to see little bits and pieces of real life stuff in games. Whether it be from actual mythology or based on historical events.

If you do manage to find those things hidden, you just might beable to get a better understanding of certain things.

They had to get their ideas from somewhere I guess. Very cool. Mostly paga stuff tho I Think. No monotheism. Three Goddesses kinda rules that out.

i no that in celtic mythology there was a goddess called the morrigan, she was sometimes three separate goddesses and sometimes they combined into one, but she was usually evil, but it could have still been inspiration for the triple goddess entity, and now i can see why people keep bringing up christianity: 3 in 1, 1 in 3, the triforce, the trinity. but that is just speculation.

Originally Posted by Liquid Fire

Use the edit button rather than double post and ask nicer next time and I might want to share those details with you. :XD

sorry, liquid fire, gustaf, the legendary hero of your kind, means no offense. really what i was wondering was if it was just somethiong u r in to or if there is some connection with zelda.

Originally Posted by Duuuudeman

They had to get their ideas from somewhere I guess. Very cool. Mostly paga stuff tho I Think. No monotheism. Three Goddesses kinda rules that out.

Trinity anyone?

There are more mythological things in Zelda than most would think.

The box that holds the picorisword (tMC) is an oblivous allusion to pandoras box.
Keatons (MM) are a based on the mythical Kitsune.
Stone tower(MM) and tower of bable.
Giovani(TP) and king midas.
The flood (tWW) also happens in the bible.
Countless references to the afterlife in the shadowtemple(OoT), most notably the river styx.
Cyclop-enemies(FSA, LA, ALttP).

Probably a lot more that I can't think of right now.

I can't point any out right now, but I'm sure there is many. I find it makes Zelda interesting, going through the game trying to point them out and seeing what reference they're mirroring. Not that I would notice anything, most of the time I'm so wrapped up into my own world to see it.

First off, please don't point out the obvious about double posts. Kindly remind the new member about the rules here on ZU via PMing him or her (or just PM a mod to do the job). Gustaf, I've corrected your mess, please learn from this and use the EDIT button (if not, your stay here at ZU won't be a long one).

Secondly, as for the subject of the thread, I find it sorta amazing that after one has been here for so long, you'll notice how topics tend to repeat themselves. Which sorta proves the fact that people think a like (and history repeats itself).

Here's a direct quote I've made in the past from a previous thread on the same subject:

Originally Posted by BigGoronSword

According to my little source on the Mythology of Atlantis, here are the only simularities I've found between Atlantis and Hyrule:

-The Atlantians believed that Athena was the protector of the city. Hylians believe that Nayru is their most important Goddess (well she did give the Hylians the ability to hear the goddesses...the only race capable of doing so). Both Athena & Nayru are titled as "Goddesses of Wisdom".

-Poseidon's sons ruled over Atlantis as kings. They "began marrying mortals and started acting like foolish humans. Soon pride overtook the rulers who soon began grasping for greater power." Ganondorf was the king of Gerudos, and ruler of the deserts. His thirst for power (ultimately, the Triforce of Power) became so grand that he ruled over Hyrule.

-"Zues assembled all the gods of Olympus around him and was to pronounce judgment on Atlantis." After hope was lost for the Hero to come, the people prayed to the Goddesses to find a solution for this catestrophic mess that has been lain upon them. According to Greek Mythology, it only took one day for the City of Atlantis to sink into the Atlantic Ocean. According to Hylian Legend, it took years of never-ending rain (that is known as the "Great Flood") for the land to be submerged was is only known as "The Great Sea".

Now, I'm a big fan of Greek Mythology, but there's something that I've noticed throughout the years...that stories/characters seem to have been used over and over again. The Egyptians and the Greeks both hold simular Gods and stories. Now when it comes to the Christian Religeon (I don't want to make this into a serious discussion. I'm just pointing out something)...there can be a slight simularity in the story of Noah's Ark.

To sum up the story in a short paragraph...:

"The world was in turmoil because everyone was sinning. God spoke to Noah (one of the few non-sinners) and told him to build an ark large enough to hold two of every animal because he's going to flood the world and drown all the sinners. Noah did so, and took his family and all the animals into the ark. Fourty days and nights of constant rain have passed. God flooded the world, Noah found land (with the help of a dove), and began life anew."

Now, I'm sure not everyone was stupid, so I'm sure that people survived.

Zelda: Goddesses flooded the land (in what it seemed like it took years) to get rid of the evil controlling the land (Ganon). People fled to the mountaintops to live.

Greek: The Gods sunk Atlantis (in one day) because of the prideful rulers seeking for more power. The survivors of the flood (not all Atlantians were in Atlantis at the time...they were going place to place fighting in wars) have believed to have gone to Egypt.

Bible: God flooded the world (in 40 days & nights) because of all the sinners. Supposibly nobody survived other than Noah and his family (in total: 8 people).

See the simularity? As we've all noticed at least one time or another, The Legend of Zelda takes stories and myths from different places (it was created by Miyamoto, so I'm not surprized if he wanted to incorporate that into the storyline). For example, one of my favorite simularities: Helmaroc = Roc. In tWW The Helmaroc King was a large bird that kidnapped little girls in search for the chosen Princess of Hyrule for his master Ganondorf. In the Arabian 1001 stories, Roc was a very large bird that was believed to have been able to kidnap children, and sometimes even pick up elephants for it to feed off of. Also according to Arabian Legend, the Roc's feather had a mystical power, but I've never read anything specifically of what it could do. In the Legend of Zelda, however, it seems that the Roc's Feather's mystical power ables the user to jump high.

-BGS

Others that you can think of are the similarities between Moblin and Goblin. Both are "henchmen" monsters that are supplied by the hoards. Sure they both may look different (Bokoblin look more like Goblins than anything else), but they hold the same purpose.

Poes (you know, those ghosts) are actually based off of some sort of Chinese Mythology where that specific type of ghost is pronounced "Poe".

Rupees are currency in Hyrule, and it's also the same name for currency in India.

Pegasus Boots/Seeds is in reference to the Greek Mythical Steed.

Titan's Mit: Titans were the first creatures created by the Greek Gods (and they were large and strong creatures).

Ether Medalion: Ether was an old method of anesthesia that made patients bodies feel cold.

Quake Medalion: In ALttP, if you throw something in a certain pool, a catfish comes out and gives you the quake medalion. In Japanese Mythology, they believed that a large catfish that lives in the earth causes all the earthquakes. Hence the connection (and there's even a pokemon that looks like a catfish that is water/ground).

Cucco: You know how Americans think chickens go "Buck Buck Buck", well the Japanese think they go "cucco cucco cucco".

Gorons: The Japanese have a word for the sound a boulder makes when it's tumbling down. It's called "Goro". Hence the name.

Three of a Kind: These only appeared in Link's Awakening, but it's in reference to the popular gambling game: Poker.

Hinox: Visually, they are clearly in reference to a cyclops.

Golem: To quote wikipedia: In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter. In LAX, Link does fight an animated being created entirely from rocks (and most other references to Golems are Earth based).

Ravens and Crows: are enemies based off of animals with the same names.

Bombchus: "Chu" means mouse in Japanese. So it's a bomb mouse.

Shrouded Stalfos take an eerie resemblance to the Grim Reaper.

Pumpkin Head: He was the first boss in OoA. With a pumpkin for a head, he resembles the Headless Horseman.

Those are the only ones I could think of. Knock yourselves out.

-BGS

Well, the Triforce-Trinity isn't the only reason for such a connection to Christianity.

Look at how the Triforce - Trinity relate to each other.

Most people choose to disagree, but I see the connection as follows:

God the Father created the earth, shaping the world as he saw fit. The Goddess of Power, Din-sama, did the same.

Christians see the Holy Spirit as our conscience. The Goddess of Wisdom, Nayru, also formed Law, the natural order of the physical world.

This, is where Christians tend to disagree with me:

The Goddess of Courage created Life, and as such also created the will to live, despite the overwhelming odds against. Christ took on the most courageous act, by taking on the sins of mankind, he was forsaken by the Father, something that I feel nobody would have the courage to do for the sake of another.