The Comics Classroom: A Link to the Past

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I always had a bizarre history with certain kinds of video games.

When I was in first grade my friend showed me Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. While I did not own a SNES like my friend, I got to watch him play through the incredibly immersive game over the span of a few months. I was hooked even when I was not the one holding the controller. Zelda was a setting in which I was not the primary participant, but one which I frequently have witnessed. I watched two friends play and beat Twilight Princess and (despite having borrowed it from three friends over the past few years) I have also only ever seen The Wind Waker played.

In truth, the only Zelda game I have beaten from start to finish has been Link’s Awakening, a game with a dubious ending that some Zelda fans do not even consider a true Zelda game due to the history of how it was developed, etc.

So, despite my odd history with the Zelda franchise, I have always loved the Legend of Zelda universe, even if I have never physically defeated any incarnation of Ganon. Where my friends beat the games, I tried to find any and every scrap of Zelda-centric knowledge I could.

Enter the nostalgia-heavy age of the Nintendo Power Magazine. In this now-mythic age, I discovered the back-issues where a comic adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past had been published.

The purpose of this Comics Classroom is to touch on the idea of multi-media stories within a shared setting. While I understand I am using a video game universe for this article, I think the 1992 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past comic by Shotaro Ishinomori exists as an important keystone to this whole topic.

In the heyday of the 90s video game culture, perhaps no ideal was more sought after than letting players experience the joy of finally having beaten a difficult game. One of my best friends explained to me the thrill of finally being able to defeat games like the original Metal Gear, Ninja Gaiden, and Final Fantasy VI. The ideal purpose of a video game is to reach the ending, a process during which you overcome trials and eventually become victorious. Not all games follow this format but, for the purposes of this article, let us assume that games in the same tradition as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past do follow this particular game design.

So, what about comics? On the surface, yes, comics and video games are different. Still, the format of following a comic and a video game share this in common:

  • You begin by starting from a point of LEAST AVAILABLE POWER/KNOWLEDGE.
  • You move forward through the medium of either the book or the game and, through this, you ACQUIRE POWER/KNOWLEDGE.
  • You reach the ending, thus having acquired the dictated amount of ‘proper’ KNOWLEDGE/POWER to appreciate and/or understand the CONCLUSION OF THE NARRATIVE.

Having set up the idea of what you are doing while you traverse a comic or a video game, what does that mean for you, the reader/player, when you get the end? As I said before, games like Zelda: A Link to the Past want you to feel happy! You just saved the world from the forces of Ganon and you rescued Zelda. You are a hero.

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But, can you have a different ending? I am not sure how many kids, having finally won such a great game, ever waxed poetic over the in-universe conclusion of Zelda and Link’s post-Ganon relationship. For the purposes of a video game you are really not meant to. The purpose was to use your cunning and your finger-skills to avoid traps, dodge enemy strikes, and to focus your mental energy to physically navigating your avatar through the trials of the game world.

The comic adaptation of Zelda: A Link to the Past was indeed set in the same game world as Takashi Tezuka’s rich game setting. Having said that, the comic of Link to the Past is not strictly a physical experience. Yes, on a meta-level, you control the story because you turn the pages; however, in this story you are not a hero. You are witnessing the hero as he makes his journey. What Shotaro Ishinomori brings to the Zelda universe in this comic narrative is some skillful exploration of heroism and, more precisely, the exploration of Link’s character.

In the game narrative, the player controls Link as he is eventually forced to enter a horrifying place known as the Dark World. This bleak place, a mirror of the natural Light World, is where Link has come in his quest to save the Princess Zelda and to prevent Ganon, the King of Evil himself, from achieving victory (that is the basic version, anyway). In the Dark World the emotions of man can surge through him and become outward manifestations, i.e. people can transform into something physically which reflects their internal/emotional characteristics.

In the ’92 Link to the Past comic the plot largely follows the game, with one massive exception. In the comic, Link comes across a knight of Hyrule called Roam. Roam, in Dark World, has come to take on the characteristics of an eagle or a hawk. He is a consummate warrior and be truly believes he is destined to be the hero who will save the world.

Unfortunately, Dark World is a dangerous place and emotions which are too powerful, like pride and vanity, can have a deterring effect on those trapped there. Roam has a proudness to him that serves his ability to fight; however, being a good fighter does not exactly make you a hero. Now, I am not saying that Shotaro Ishinomori set out to provide a commentary on what being heroic is or is not, at least not as it relates to gamers.

What I do think he was setting up was a way for readers of the comic to connect to Link’s journey in ways a gamer might not be able to. To put it another way: while gaming, you are too busy assuming the avatar-role as Link. Cut off from the controller and the ability to infuse avatar-Link with your own brand of heroism, comic Link surely must be going through a lot of trials that are tough to think about. The Link to the Past comics sets up Roam to show Link what a stereotypical idea of heroism looks like – Roam is handsome, he has real armor, he is capable with or without weapons, and he believes he is meant to save the Light World.

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In this panel we have a Link who is more than likely nothing like what we might imagine him to be when we play him. Comic Link is, as I have said before, inexperienced and is facing tough challenges. Worse, he is clearly showing that he still has a lot to learn about being calm and collect in the face of adversity.

This Link, this Link we cannot guide on our own, has to make a journey of heroism across many pages and he has doubts. While Link does not have the faith in himself that a player might have in his own role as ‘avatar-Link,’ Princess Zelda comments on heroism to Link in the ’92 comic in one of the more sincere moments the pair shares:

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So, how does the comic explore different ideas of heroism? The page above seems to show that there is an emotional capacity to being heroic. One must not be prideful, out of control, or be incapable of comprehending one’s own place in life. Link, although in the Dark World and faced with a daunting task, does not give up hope even when he thinks he is not meant to be the hero of a prophecy. Still, he is young and he questions if he will succeed. At the end, he is heroic and he does manage to do his part to defeat Ganon. Again, the comic diverts from the game in a very important way.

In the game version of The Link to the Past, it is the player who has the task of defeating Ganon. This is done by using the Master Sword to hurt the King of Evil and the bow to actually finish him off. In the comic, Link is not alone when he finally faces Ganon in the Dark World. The knight Roam gives his life to help destroy one of Ganon’s most powerful followers and Link is not the one who scores the final blow against Ganon directly. In the game four shots from the Silver Arrow upgrade is required to destroy Ganon. In the comic, Princess Zelda is the one to fire the bow and destroy Ganon, this having happened after Link manages to stun him with the Master Sword.

While I am not sure if this combination of Male/Female combatants was meant to mirror a concept I discussed in an earlier Comics Classroom, that being how a female miko and a male monk would have their different roles to play when defeating evil spirits, what is evident is that Princess Zelda is every bit as much a hero as Link. This stands out as being a more profound role for the titular princess of this story as, in the game, Princess Zelda herself has no role in the ending.

To make things even more introspective, here are the final two important moments which show the deep and introspective nature of this comic adaptation. Having defeated Ganon, Link and Zelda return to Hyrule where Link is greeted by the spirits of those who were lost to Ganon’s evil.

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The comic flat out says that the efforts of Link were not the only thing that defeated Ganon. This seems like a rather shocking statement to tell a person who played Link to the Past because they defeated Ganon on their own. They did not have help in the final battle.

So, why create such a gap between the reality of the comic and the reality of the game? I believe this is because 1) artistic license and 2) because the reader requires the journey of the hero to be more complicated than the journey a character takes in a game. The mind requires a different kind of stimulation than the muscles or reflexes. Link to the Past is not the hardest game (then or now), but it is a challenge and you do get a rush out of solving the puzzles, defeating the monsters, and saving the world.

To read about a character, to spend time with the character while being still and while being immersed in their world, is a private and insular experience. By showing that comic Link has undergone an ordeal which was not based on his journey alone, but that of others, the comic reader has a whole different journey to process than the gamer. Where the gamer puts his own role as being ‘master of the avatar’ into practice, the comic reader cannot, explicitly, ‘do’ the things he reads about.

Instead of focusing then on the physical action, the ’92 Link to the Past comic instead places emphasis on emotional control, humility, and learning about growing up. Unlike the video game incarnation of Link, the comic Link has a different world to exist in and that means the ‘ending’ to the story is different also.

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The nature of Princess Zelda and Link’s relationship by the close of the comic is a bittersweet one. While Link is indeed still the hero who guards the Tri-Force, he and the Princess have grown apart. Her loneliness coupled with Link’s responsibilities means that they each have had expectations which are now adapting. They are growing up into new people. Comics, unlike video games, present a world that is frozen and is non-responsive. Forever trapped as growing but distant characters, the comic setting allows the reader to reflect on the nature of their relationship as watchers. We might feel sadness or pity at the state of their affairs, but we certainly did not bring it about. The gamer can re-live and re-try their hand at heroism as many times as they like, repeating parts or trying again for (in some games, anyway) new endings or a better score. Or, just to become better.

The worlds of video game Zelda and Comic Zelda have different routes to showcasing the legend of Link and the Princess Zelda in interactive and reflective ways, albeit with different emotional connections, but both still depict heroism nonetheless. Both mediums are journeys that a person takes on, either as an interactive or as a reflective experience. Both journeys compliment the same universe and are meant to evoke different emotions. Both journeys are worth the trip and both bring something different to the take.

As I close this column I’d like to show the two final moments of the Link to the Past game and then the comic.

In the final scene of the video game we have the legendary Master Sword being sealed away ‘FOREVER’ because you, the player, have vanished evil. The game acknowledges your status as a hero and that you have done what needed to be done. The game is now over and the story is closed.

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The final page of the Link to the Past comic is much different. The Master Sword remains encased in vines and the trappings of time. The sword awaits a new hero because the story of heroes in the Zelda comic world has not truly ended.

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The comic reader, while not the direct hero of the story, still holds the values of heroism and courage that the story sought to impart. In a meta-sense, the story of Link in the Link to the Past Comic never ends because we, as readers, will always have more to learn. We will never really have all the knowledge and wisdom needed to save world, but saving the world of Link and Zelda was never the point. Books and comics (and yes, even video games) can inspire us to make changes to our direct world. The end goal of a video game, I argue, is to win: you must reach the end and there is a tangible, visible screen at times that even says ‘YOU WIN.’

But for a comic or a book? Often many readers are left to wonder how to process the ending to a story because they are so impacted by the fates of characters we cannot directly meet, or guide, or love. Readers are charged then with turning those emotions and feelings into real-world experiences. Some fans turn to book clubs, cosplay, forums, fan-projects, and other physical means to keep the love of their subject(s) alive in their hearts. For some readers the ending to a story is only the first part of a longer journey, one which might not present a happy ‘THE END’ or ‘YOU HAVE WON’ sign. For them, the Master Sword will forever be awaiting a new champion to lift it up and save the world and that is inspiring.

Now, I hope some readers do not think that ONLY comic or book readers experience the feelings I described above. In my opinion, the conquest of a great video game is a very real reward that can leave just as lasting an impression on the player as when a reader closes a book. The purpose of this article (I hope!) showcases how gamers and readers can experience a shared mythology differently. Games conclude their game with a sense of having achieved that ending. For myself, defeating/beating/ending games leaves me often more accomplished than when I read a book. For you, it might be the reverse.

The point is this: regardless of the media that the journey you want to experience presents itself in, apply what you have learned to the world we all share. If you know there is a comic or novel adaptation of a game setting you love, go experience a different side of that universe you love. See if experiencing a game world as a comic makes you feel differently about the setting or the characters. Share these things you love with others and engage with the fan-communities. Write some articles, etc.

I think the comic of Zelda is inspirational for showing a whole different side of a setting that has many, many fans across the world. You might utterly disagree with me, and that is okay, but always keep loving what you love. Keep gaming. Keep reading. Never stop making journeys of the imagination.

 

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