Every village featured in the Legend of Zelda series has subtle nuances that bring it to life. The stream running through Ordon and the children playing about, the sleepiness of Kakariko with clucking Cuccos and people going about their everyday tasks. Skyloft is no exception to this. The bustling village bazaar, children hunting beetles, and the little Remlits, the cat-like creatures that wander the island. They watch Link as he passes, sometimes meowing while stretching legs and extending claws. They’re adorable little creatures during the day, but once the sun sets, these little creatures go from nice to naughty in the blink of an eye.
When I played Skyward Sword, I didn’t really think much about these creatures on my first playthrough, other than having to rescue one from a rooftop very early in the game. I found it odd that while in Twilight Princess Link cuddles the cats and dogs he picks up close to his chest, in Skyward Sword he seems to hold them at arm’s length. Perhaps it’s that Twilight Princess Link is a farmhand and used to animals whereas Skyward Sword Link is a sleepy boy who’s more familiar with his avian companion than he is anything else.
Or maybe it’s because these little critters will claw your eyes out if you pick them up at the wrong time of day.
Horwell warns you at the beginning of the game to watch out for these tiny beasts. When you rescue the headmaster’s Remlit, affectionately known as Mia, Horwell mentions that Remlits are odd creatures that become possessed by an evil force at night, and even goes onto say that, “I keep my distance from Mia at night. There was that one time when she snuck into the academy after nightfall…” leaving an ominous warning hanging in the air.
I didn’t pay much attention to this until later on when I was trying to complete a few sidequests that require Link to venture out at night. There are a few Remlits positioned strategically on the path: one on the bridge and one right next to a few houses. I was in a hurry and kept forgetting they were there, only to have them hiss and snarl at me as I passed, sometimes leaping out to slash at or bite my ankle, stealing precious health that I couldn’t afford to lose. I was low on rupees, low on hearts, and I had things to do! These adorable little creatures soon became a bane to my progress — not a large one, but a bane nonetheless.
I told a friend about this, and at the time she was the only one of my friends who had played Skyward Sword. She laughed and asked me if I’d ever thrown one off the edge of Skyloft, which at the time I hadn’t even considered. I consider myself a pacifist; it’s not in my nature to play games with any sort of malicious intent. I didn’t even enjoy watching my friends play The Sims or Minecraft because of the things they would sometimes do to their characters or the villagers. So the idea of throwing a seemingly harmless kitten-like creature off the edge of Skyloft didn’t sit well with me, despite the irritation they caused. But my friend kept after me, smirking each time she mentioned it. “Just throw them and see what happens.”
After another night-time sidequest where the Remlit on the bridge startled me as it jumped out at my leg, I decided I’d had enough. When dawn broke on Skyloft, I guided Link to the bridge, picked up the mewling creature, marched to the edge of Skyloft and chucked it over the side. I waited for a screech, or perhaps a knight to fly by and scold me for being mean to the wildlife, but neither of those things came.
Instead, the Remlit returned to me, flapping it’s overly large ears to sail through the sky back to the safety of land. It looked vaguely like a bat, and I remember laughing so much I threw it off the edge again just to watch it fly up.
After this, I got curious about what else the creatures would do if you messed around with them. I learned that if you hit them with a sword during the day, they cowered in fear (and made me feel like the worst human on the planet), but it took two strikes to drive them off at night. But aside from this, there wasn’t much else, so I let them be for a while and went on my way.
Then later, as I was scouring the island looking for Heart Pieces, I happened to see a target on a wall near the Goddess Statue. After hauling myself over the edge, I found myself in a small meadow with two trees and a patch of pink flowers, and nestled among the flowers were numerous tiny Remlits. I had no clue how they got to this part of Skyloft. Did they scale the wall and were now stuck? Perhaps the ones I threw off the island in my fit of newfound amusement moved here instead of back to their original locations.
Regardless of how they ended up here, I knew exactly what this moment called for: a serenade.
The response was everything I could have hoped for. The creatures came walking to Link, mewing happily and bobbing their heads along with the random melody. I spent probably a good 5-10 minutes walking around and seeing if they would follow, which they did, and upon relaxing I did what any animal tamer would do.
I proceeded to throw them all off the edge.
It was such a delightful discovery in a game I already enjoyed. There was no logical reason to code an Easter egg like this other than for the pure joy of something cute, but it adds so much to the world Link walks around in.
I recently got two kittens back-to-back, a purebred Ragdoll and an accidental tabby who just happened to stumble into my life. They are the first cats I’ve ever owned, and so far I’ve enjoyed them immensely. I jokingly told my spouse I wanted to name one of them Remlit, but he wouldn’t agree.
I suppose to enjoy the cat-like creatures of Skyloft, I’ll need to return to the game again, but in the meantime perhaps I should see how my own pets respond to a harp.
