When you first played The Wind Waker, did it feel like you had already met Aryll before? Maybe its her chipper demeanor, or the way she dresses? Or could it be the strange love she has for seagulls? There’s something about Aryll that makes her seem instantly familiar to Zelda fans. This is because she was designed to embody the spirit of fan-favorite characters from games past.
According to the included book in the The Wind Waker “Zelda Box” set released only in Japan (translated by GlitterBerri), Eiji Aonuma explained, “The reason behind Aryll’s name is that there’s a girl named Marin in Link’s Awakening, and a girl named Malon in Ocarina of Time. It was just an expansion on the idea of having a similarly named character. At first we were calling her Maril, but we eventually toned it down to what it is today.” Perhaps it is because Aryll is Link’s sister, rather than potential romantic interest, that I did not put together her similarities to Marin and Malon. I like to think that if her name was Maril, I would have made the connection.
In particular, Aryll appears to draw heavy influence from Marin. Both characters don blue dresses with splashes of red. Marin wears a red hibiscus in her hair, while Aryll has red flower patterns on her dress. Speaking of flowers, Aryll’s name may be a play on the South African amaryllis, which made me question how her name is pronounced. (I always thought it was Ar-yll, but this suggests it is A-ryll.)
Marin and Aryll also share an affinity for seagulls. Marin envies the gull’s ability to fly to distant lands, wishing she could do so and share her songs with the world. Aryll loves to play with seagulls and is constantly surrounded by the water fowl. She even has seagulls drawn on her most prized possession: her telescope. She would certainly be proud of the seagull mastery Link acquires on his adventure.
While Aryll is a unique character, she was designed to remind players of widely beloved Marin and Malon from previous adventures. I was glad to learn that the deja vu was not just in my head.
