Game designers often find inspiration in all sorts of different things. Shigeru Miyamoto notoriously found the idea for the original Legend of Zelda in remembering exploring nature in his youth, and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask found much of its identity in its incredibly tight production cycle. While we are prone to view elements of fantasy at their face value as vivid designs of imagination, it is well known among fantasy writers that near everything has some origin in reality. Most often, those origins lie in world history, of days when cultures sought supernatural explanations for the mysteries of reality.

Like many fantasy games, the enemies of the Zelda series take from this source most of all. Monsters, ghouls, and demons alike from a plethora of different cultures form the foundations of Link’s personal rogues gallery. It is only natural when there are often numerous enemies and bosses that need to be made on the tight budget of game development to pull from what might be the world’s largest compendium of frightful terrors. In honor of the Blood Moon Week, let’s take a look at a couple baddies from the series and delve into just where they might’ve originated from.

Hinox and the Cyclops/Oni

We’ll open up with what might be one of the most obvious connections. While not everyone might be familiar with the exact legend of the Cyclops, almost everyone knows what they are. Big bulky monsters with a single eye that proves to be their weakspot that are depicted in a variety of colors. Sound familiar? There’s not too much of a deviation in Zelda‘s Hinoxes from the Cyclops physically, but there’s actually another monster worth noting in regards to the behavior of the Hinox.

As noted by the Zelda Wiki, Hinoxes’ habit of wearing loin cloths and generally sporting muscular builds bears quite a resemblance to the Japanese Oni. The Oni is a massive ogre of sorts with horns and is among a collection of Japanese spirits and monsters known as yokai. Among other things, Oni have a habit of collecting trinkets and weapons, not unlike how the Hinoxes of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild collect weapons as necklaces around their necks. This connection goes into the Cyclops as well though as the Cyclopes as depicted by Hesiod were weapon-smiths. Cyclopes even created Zeus’s thunderbolt as an exchange for him freeing them from imprisonment, which may actually relate to Hinoxes love of bombs too.

Amusingly, both Cyclops and Oni serve as particular nuisances in their respective cultures, rather not unlike the Hinox. Within Homer’s The Odyssey, the Cyclops Polyphemus proves to be obstacle in the path of the hero Odysseus. Within Japanese culture, a tradition of bean-throwing is practiced during the Setsubon festival in order to ward off wandering Oni, even including the chant “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” meaning “Oni go out! Blessings come in!”

 

Gibdos, Redeads, and The Draugr

Our next monster is a bit more of a deep cut, though fans of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim might be a bit familiar with the name. The Draugr is an undead monster originating from Scadinavian folklore, zombie-like creatures that dwell within forgotten barrows.

What makes Draugr interesting and unique compared to your typical zombie is that in most depictions they thirst for blood like a vampire rather than, say, brains or flesh. Most damning of all in terms of their behaviors is the depiction of Draugrs possessing an “evil eye” that is said to be able to freeze unfortunate victims in their tracks out of fear. Hmm, where have I run into that problem before?

Both Gibdos and Redeads alike share quite a lot in common with these Icelandic menaces, far more than many other depictions of undead beings out there. Interestingly, one of the differences between Draugr and our Hyrulian zombies is that some Draugr are capable of using witchcraft and sorcery. Imagine if a Gibdo suddenly whipped out a spellbook. I’ll pass on that terrifying notion.

 

Wolfos and the Okuri-Inu

Our next ghoul returns us to the realm of yokai, specifically one known as the Okuri-Inu (lit. “escorting dog”). The Okuri-Inu is a canine creature, sometimes described as more dog-like in some parts of Japan while closer to a wolf in others. The Okuri-Inu is a ravenous beast that will follow travelers as they travel through mountainous and forest paths. The yokai will follow closely waiting patiently until the traveler falls over, wherein it will pounce and consume them. In some stories of the Okuri-Inu, they are even said to have the capability of leaping over people’s heads.

While the Wolfos may strike as a bit of a generic wolf enemy — the strategy for defeating them certainly is — I think there’s enough that we have with them that connect them to the Okuri-Inu. One notable thing about Wolfos is their habit of circling the player, acting very reserved with their offense. It is usually only once Link has stopped moving that they will strike, much like the Okuri-Inu. They also sometimes quite comically just leap right over the player to try and strike their backsides. Evidently, one of the ways to survive an encounter with an Okuri-Inu is to give it an offering of a sandal or rice, so perhaps try offering your boots to the next Wolfos that gives you trouble.

 

Moldorm and The Mongolian Death Worm

Our next entry brings us to a new kind of type of origin, what some often refer to as modern mythology: the urban legend. While some may hesitate to give urban legends as much credit as historical mythology, the end result is not much different. Take the Mongolian Death Worm for example. The creature was first documented in 1926 by explorer Roy Chapman Andrew who cited then Mongolian Prime Minister Damdinbizar for a description of the creature which included descriptors such as, “has no head nor leg and it is so poisonous that merely to touch it means instant death.” This bizarre worm, which people are still searching for even today, would go on to proliferate the idea of monstrous sand worms within science fiction pieces like Dune, and even movies like Tremors.

This of course brings us to our Hyrulian invertebrate Moldorm. The connection between these two even goes as far as their etymology, with Moldorm being a potential abbreviation of Mongolian Death Worm in that weird way fantasy loves to do. This of course only applies to the English name though. In other tales of the area, the Mongolian Death Worm is said to move “erratically and without pattern or flow,” rather similarly to Moldorm’s rather twitchy movements. Breath of the Wild‘s variant of Moldorm, Molduga, even incorporates the worms habit of traveling underneath sand and leaving waves behind in its wake.

 

Moblins and Zhu Bajie

From here, we move away from species and more to specific individuals within myth and folklore. The first of these comes from what might be one of the most influential Asian pieces of literature ever: The Journey to the West. The 16th century novel tells of the pilgrimage of monk Tang Sanzang accompanied by three disciples assigned by Gautama Buddha.

One of these disciples is Zhu Bajie, a lazy greedy gluttonous man with the head of a pig. Throughout the epic, Zhu Bajie constantly brings his companions down with his poor behaviors, often butting heads with fellow disciple Sun Wukong. Frequently, Zhu Bajie even convinces Sun Wukong to free the demons that plague their path throughout the tale out of sympathy. His constant bumbling lends many people, even the author to refer to him as “idiot.”

Moblins of course have taken on a lot of different iterations across the Zelda series. Looking at the Moblins of Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild and the Moblins of Link’s Awakening and the Wind Waker yields a stark contrast; but as the synonymous villains of Ganon’s army, it’s only natural they’d see many interpretations over time. However stated in the now-lost Great Hyrule Encyclopedia is that “Moblins are greedy and only care about food and Rupees.” Moblins oddly enough exemplify many of Zhu Bajie’s best and worst traits as well as his pig-man appearance. Toss a little bit of goblin energy in there (hence, M-oblin) for good measure and you’ve got yourself an iconic annoying enemy to carry a series.

 

Twinrova and Baba Yaga

And finally, we arrive at one of our spookiest entries. Baba Yaga is not the most obscure figure in folklore admittedly. Despite originating from Slavic children’s tales, she’s managed to squeeze her way into all sorts of works such as the television show Supernatural, Dungeons & Dragons, and video games like Smite, Castlevania, Runescape, and even Fortnite. The witch gets around. But despite her modern popularity, there’s a lot unsaid about the woman.

In some tales, Baba Yaga is not one witch, but three identical sisters, and oftentimes, the witch is known to take on a maternal role just as often as she seems prone to eating children like a boogeyman. And what do you know, two large associations with Baba Yaga are the symbols of the firebird and the Russian winter.

In a sense, many old crones in fiction owe their origins in some way or another to Baba Yaga, either as direct influences or through the cultural influence she has brought. Kotake and Koume owe just a little bit more I think though than most. Their frequent depiction as the caretakers of young Ganondorf, their status as twins, and the connections of ice and fire to the symbols involved with the tales of Baba Yaga really cement them as a far more dedicated nod to the mysterious witch. Now if only they went riding around in thimbles instead of broomsticks

 

Acknowledging Cultural Bias

As we reach our end, there is something that must be said as many of these comparisons are drawn. I, as a human being, am expressing my own cultural biases here as I look to these connections between characters. There is an inherent reality that I am an individual living in the United States speaking about many cultures that aren’t part of my life experience. I do possess Japanese descent, but that does not replace the actual experience of being a Japanese game developer living in Japan. It is quite possible none of these creatures even crossed the minds of Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma as they developed the Zelda series. Heck, I could probably make an entire list of comparisons purely using yokai.

But regardless of this fact, culture is inherently the result of societies and civilizations interacting with one another, sharing stories and experiences, reinterpreting what they hear in ways that they can relate to. Fiction is in many ways the celebration of this fact, imagination spawned from our collective experience as human beings. While these are merely guesses and observations into the creative process that goes on in the halls of Nintendo, we can use these interpretations to learn about all sorts of different cultures from around the world. In this article alone, we saw concepts from China, Japan, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia, and Iceland, and I had to cut numerous other comparisons as I wrote this.

To this end, I don’t think I’d ever want to know if any of my interpretations are correct. That’s not the point of speculating into the sociology of this entire matter. I’m not Aonuma-san; I don’t need to know these answers. To me, talking about monsters is my way of experiencing culture through the lens of something I enjoy. I hope you were also able to enjoy learning about a number of different cultures through my exploration.

What are your thoughts? What comparisons have you drawn between mythology and the Zelda series? What are ways you like to use video games as a lens into world culture? Let us know in the comments below!


Emi Curtis is an associate editor with Zelda Dungeon. She is a freelance artist, programmer, and streamer with maybe a bit of an addiction to video games. She can frequently be found playing RPGs and Adventure games, her favorite of which being The Wind Waker. Currently, She is in the midst of writing a Breath of the Wild tabletop rulebook and playing Code Vein, Paper Mario, and A Hat in Time on stream. She can be found on Twitter and Twitch as their VTuber alter-ego Bianca Duba, playing classic games good, bad, and weird alike.

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