The Women of Legend: Romani
Posted on August 01 2015 by Jon Lett
Hit the jump to look back at the brave young ranch protector, Romani.
“How about… Grasshopper? That’s the name Romani gives you!” – Romani
Romani is introduced like most others in the game, as a simple NPC going about her three days in the game’s schedule. She lives on Romani Ranch, the place she was born in and is named after, with her older sister Cremia. When entering the ranch for the first time, on the first day, you notice little more than the young girl before Link notices and runs over to his lost horse. At the time, most players will likely want Epona back as their main priority, so they will talk to the nearby little girl, who introduces herself quite excitedly while referring to herself in the third person (Really. What even?). Players then learn of a very sinister and creepy annual event that will soon take place. According to Romani, strange creatures simply referred to as “They” will descend on the ranch the next morning and steal the cows from the barn. In successfully training for said event with her, one can earn back Epona, but interestingly, most people will want to see what happens the next morning. It seems the idea of aliens in Termina is quite intriguing to most.
The interesting thing about Romani’s tale is that whenever most people think of her, they instantly think of “Them”, not the girl herself. The invasion is a very unnerving event in and of itself, with that terrifying music and the spotlight-eyed aliens, but it is even more distressing when trying to see it from Romani’s perspective. Imagine for a moment that you are a little girl with the steep responsibility of not only protecting a barn full of cows, but also your big sister sleeping soundly in your house, from a barrage of evil creatures. With nothing but a bow. Considering Cremia refuses to believe the girl’s supposed imaginary stories, Romani must feel quite alone. She may be optimistic, but she can’t be entirely calm when facing such beings all on her own. No wonder she was so quick to befriend and recruit Link.
Though, while her whole mission is a sad notion, nothing compares to the outcome if Link does not assist her. If you are like me as a little kid, and sat around to try and help without understanding that the aliens were fought with the bow, you can only watch in horror as the barn is invaded, the cows are stolen, and Romani is whisked away with them, screaming all the while. What occurs upon your return to the ranch later is just tragic. The previously cheery and excitable girl is now no more than a nearly catatonic PTSD victim. Sitting is an almost fetal stance with a thousand-yard stare, occasionally gripping her head in a rather manic way, she is clearly quite traumatized after whatever the aliens did to her.
In saying that she does not even remember what the “practice” is for, we can assume that They either wiped her memory of them, forever freeing them up to steal the cows from the barn without any resistance, or they did such horrific things to her that she unintentionally repressed it all, and forgot they even exist. Perhaps those little moments of her gripping her head are her remembering something, and then pushing it away again to forget the pain. Either way, this is one of Nintendo’s key moments of slipping horrific concepts into their classic kid’s games.
Cremia’s whole situation may be the most soul-crushing in all of Termina. Sure, there are some major terrors being inflicted on the citizens, but one must remember that Romani is no more than an innocent child, presumably age 10, like Link. Captured or not, she can’t be coming out of these attacks without some mental scars. She must be getting old enough to understand the terror she has been through, in the same way that I feel child incarnations of Link should be more emotionally effected by his adventures. Now, as I mentioned, she shows what could be called courage and valor against these creatures, but she could also be simply too naive to understand the threat they pose. She has apparently taken on the aliens on for enough years to realize their pattern of invasion, so she must be quite adept at protecting the ranch, but still. She seems completely unaware of the falling moon. That fact doesn’t really tell you she is mature enough to make proper decisions. Oh, and let’s not even go over the tragic fact that she is staying optimistic and fighting so hard while the moon is falling towards her world.
Anyway, mature and aware or not, Romani is one of the most respectable characters in the game for going through what she has. I can imagine that through years of protecting the ranch, with adults ignoring and not appreciating her actions, she would grow up to be one of the few people that understands and respects kids who go through life-changing trials as she has, like Link’s dynamic with Colin in Twilight Princess. She would likely be one who goes on to protect her family and friends from creatures that others do not dare face, or that others simply do not believe are a threat. That is, if he is not captured by those aliens. In each three-day cycle, I never forgot what would happen to her if I did not help her again.
Romani is one of those characters that is clearly memorable, but rather under-appreciated, by in-game characters and players alike. As much discussion as Majora’s Mask has based on its characters, she is often left out of people’s thoughts regarding tragic happenings in Termina. This is a shame, considering she could be considered one of the strongest characters Termina has. If she were ever used again in a game, I ould hope that we would see her as the strong and faithful adult that I just know she would turn out to be.
“They are coming…” – Romani
