My brother has been trying to get me to watch Twin Peaks for years. He often references the television show and shows his love with a Twin Peaks ugly sweater and a Bookhouse Boys ball cap. I ignored his advice for years. Then, as I was thumbing through the Zelda Encyclopedia one afternoon, I noticed a tidbit in the Developer Notes for Link’s Awakening describing how the game had been inspired by David Lynch and specifically, Twin Peaks.
Now I had to watch the show.
Twin Peaks is an American mystery/horror television show created by David Lynch and Mark Frost that first aired in 1990. The show was canceled after its second season in 1991 due to declining ratings, but a cult following had already developed, leading to a 1992 movie and, twenty-five years later, season three. Though its initial showing may not have produced strong ratings, Twin Peaks is now regarded as one of the most influential television shows of all time.
The show takes place in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, a seemingly sleepy town filled with seemingly ordinary folks. When the local homecoming queen is found brutally murdered, the town is thrust into turmoil, and secrets begin to surface. The viewer follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he strives to get to the bottom of the mysterious killing and uncovers the townsfolk’s clandestine affairs along the way.
Boy, do the residents of Twin Peaks turn out to be some interesting folk. There’s the unscrupulous hotelier bent on taking over the town’s mill so he can redevelop the land. There’s the lady who carries around and talks with a log. Agent Cooper himself has his quirks, often sidetracking a conversation to extol the value of a good cup of coffee or slice of pie.
One of the reasons Twin Peaks is so highly regarded is not due to its plot per se, but more in how the story is told. The story incorporates supernatural elements, the tone is often campy, and the characters range from suspicious to just bizarre. It is more interesting to see what the people of Twin Peaks are going to do next than it is to solve the mystery that brought them all together. This attribute caught the attention of some of the Zelda developers.
In an Iwata Asks interview on the development of Spirit Tracks, Takashi Tezuka divulged how much of an impact Twin Peaks had on the design of the first handheld Zelda game, Link’s Awakening. Tezuka, the game’s director, aimed to make it “with a feel that’s somewhat like Twin Peaks. At the time, Twin Peaks was rather popular. The drama was all about a small number of characters in a small town.” He further added, “I wanted to make something that, while it would be small enough in scope to easily understand, it would have deep and distinctive characteristics.” Eiji Aonuma, now manager of the Zelda series, added that “When I was reading (Kensuke) Tanabe-san’s comments in the strategy guide, I saw, ‘Tezuka-san suggested we make all the characters suspicious types like in the then-popular Twin Peaks.‘” Tezuka was clearly a fan.
I wasn’t aware of the inspiration Twin Peaks had on Link’s Awakening when I first played it, but many of the characters did stick out to me for their shifty behavior. For example, the kids in Mabe Village blurt out important information followed quickly by an excuse along the lines of, “I don’t know how I know that, I’m just a kid!” Sure, buddy, not suspicious at all. Tarin, Marin’s father, is another example. He’s always getting into some kind of trouble, adding both a comedic element and a glimpse into the supernatural goings-on of Koholint Island.
In the above-mentioned interview, the developers further discuss how the change in perspective of the non-playable characters in Link’s Awakening broadened the possibilities for what characters in Zelda games could be. Since the debut of the first handheld Zelda, the people and creatures that the player interacts with have varied from strange to suspicious to downright silly. I think we’ve all had moments where we paused our quest to think to ourselves, “What it this person’s deal?” These experiences add immeasurable depth to the journey, far beyond the straightforward duty to put an end to the evil plaguing the land. It’s become such an integral part of the series that we at Zelda Universe created the Bombers’ Notebook column just to examine our favorite characters.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Zelda series, appears to have taken similar influence from Twin Peaks. In a different Iwata Asks interview on the development of Ocarina of Time 3D, Miyamoto remembered, “I didn’t want to tell a story so much as I wanted to have a lot of people appear around the main character and portray their relationships. Some years back, a television show called Twin Peaks was popular. When I saw that, the most interesting thing wasn’t the ins and outs of the story, but what kinds of characters appeared.” He then added, “I think those suspicious and odd characters alone are interesting. I’m more interested in their presence than who is whose cousin and whose parents were sworn enemies way back when.” Miyamoto closed by reiterating that the background of the character is not as important as the “role that person plays and how they contribute to portraying the main character.” In other words, the side characters add a level of depth to the story that would otherwise be lacking while helping to define the very person our hero turns out to be.
Twin Peaks seems to have left quite the impression on the Zelda development team, leading to a new way of telling the story through memorable characters Link encounters along the way. Now it is easy to name at least a handful of suspicious characters from each Zelda title after Link’s Awakening. Perhaps the most
These discussions got me wondering if Breath of the Wild‘s Dueling Peaks is a reference to the classic television show. The name is similar, and even visual likenesses exist between the peaks in the most recent Zelda title and those showcased in the opening credits of Twin Peaks. I couldn’t find anything confirming or denying whether the mountains are related (though one fan has suggested it was based off a mountain found on Sado Island in Japan). Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper once quipped, “coincidence and fate figure largely in our lives.”
After reading about Twin Peaks role in shaping the Zelda series, I decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed. I wanted to know more about the peculiar characters in this small town nestled in the woods at the base of the mountains. I could clearly see why the Zelda developers looked at this show as a shining example of storytelling through non-protagonist characters. I recommend checking the series out, both to learn more about how Zelda became what it is today and for some good entertainment. It gets a big thumbs up from me (and my brother).
