Mythology Gag/Video Games/The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

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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 Light 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 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.
  • The main melody of the Ballad of the Goddess is actually Zelda's Theme played backwards.
    • Which actually is somewhat spoilery if you deduce it, as Zelda is a human incarnation of the Goddess
  • 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:
  • Beedle's ancestor makes an appearance, with the same theme from 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! Helps that he also bears a resemblance to Rauru, who was recently confirmed 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 similiar in concept to the central temples of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, with invincible guardians and sentries who will alert those guardians if they see Link and who can kill Link in one hit.
  • 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 fishmouth. Angler Cavern and the Catfish's Maw from Links Awakening immediately spring to mind.
  • Traveling Gorons return, though they aren't merchants this time.
  • The Temple of Time is in the game.
    • A later game showed that there are, in fact, two Temples of Time. The main one is in Lanaryu Desert, which looks to be in the same location as Arbiter's Grounds. The second one is in 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 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 turn table 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.
  • Zelda has a Tingle plushie in her room.
  • The Gust Bellows was an item in The Minish Cap. As were the Mogma Mitts (Mole Mitts there).
  • And, one to the very first game: "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 OOT.
  • The intro sequence is very similar to the one from Wind Waker, narrating a legend that forms the backstory of the game, depicted in an ancient art style (medieval art for Wind Waker, cave paintings for Skyward Sword).
  • Once again, there's a hand in the toilet that wants paper.
    • A more subtle one is that in Majoras 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 drawing on Link's house in Kokiri Forest is strikingly similar to the third form of the Imprisoned.
  • The animation of the Triforce assembling itself is oddly similar to a another Triforce animation in the intro of A Link to The Past.
  • The Sky Keep, a dungeon consisting of movable square rooms similar to the previous six dungeons, will no doubt remind players of Ganon's Castle from OOT and TWW, as well as the Moon in MM. Not to mention that the layout is similar to the very first game.
  • The boss of Ancient Cistern requires you to pick up his sword and slash him, a call back to using monster's weapons in Wind Waker.
  • The Master Sword before it is blessed by Zelda looks very similar to the depowered Master Sword from Wind Waker, with the Wings folded in and the colors a darker shade than the True Master Sword.
  • 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 mid-boss 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 Dodongo's Cavern from Ocarina.
  • Loftwings are the birds always depicted on the Hylian shield and other Hylian designs. Of course, 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, ala 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 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 Gameboy ones.
  • There's numerous Musical Nods as well.
    • The Ballad of the Goddess is, of course, Zelda's Lullaby in reverse. The original Zelda's Lullaby also returns as an orchestral rearrangement, when Link first meets Zelda in the past.
    • 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 horns that Bokoblins blow creates a hilariously mangled version of the Flute Boy's song.
  • 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.
  • At the end of the game, Zelda asks what do you want to do. This is similar to Spirit Tracks which had Zelda asking what did you want to do after everything was over near the end of the game 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.
  • Similar to in Wind Waker, there are tornados 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.
  • 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. So, Fi, no, The Master Sword, sleeps again, forever. Although the line itself is never said, so it is more of a stealth mythology gag, if it was intended at all.
  • 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 reminescent of following the ghost of Darmani in Majoras Mask.
  • Professor Owlan, with his white hair and dark skin, looks similar to the Rito tribe in 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 the Oracle of Ages.
    • More importantly, they're the symbols of the Three Goddesses: Din, Farore, and Nayru.
  • Throwing bombs into baskets is a common way to progress during the Lanayru region. The idea was first used in a mini-game in Majoras Mask, and throwing a bomb into a basket held by a statue to knock it down was used in 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. Of course, Marin was originally that game's equivalent to Zelda, so it makes sense that they would act similarly.
  • 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 Gossip Stone will cause it to blast off into the sky, similar to Ocarina of Time's and Majoras 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.
    • They are also found in the blue-tinted Silent Realm, which happens to be the same color scheme as the dungeons from the first 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 Majoras Mask, later Linebeck in Phantom Hourglass, and this time around it's Groose.
  • A bit of a stretch, but in Ocarina of Time, a common Urban Legend of Zelda was that you could obtain the Triforce. Now, you can.
    • Debatable, seeing as he was able to in several other games as well.
  • 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 Mogma's 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!
  • 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 Link to the Past. 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.
  • 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 Link to the Past.
  • Fi's face resembles Fairy Queen. So does Ghirahim's, eventually.
  • Cursed Bokoblins are basically this game's iteration of the Re Deads. They're somewhat goofy-looking appearance wise, but they still pounce on you in the same manners 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.
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