Zelda’s Study: The many Mario enemies in Link’s Awakening

In Link’s Awakening, Link awakes on the dreamy island shore of Koholint, which is inhabited by a variety of strange creatures. While many are classic Zelda foes, such as Bubbles and Stalfos, some of them are monsters that you might be more likely to find in the Mushroom Kingdom than in Hyrule — and some are even kept as pets by the island’s inhabitants.

In Mabe Village, a woman called Madam MeowMeow keeps Chain Chomps and asks Link to rescue her beloved BowWow, whose powerful bite is essential to breaking into the Bottle Grotto. While carrying around BowWow, the creature will chomp through obstacles and foes, making it an indispensable ally. Another pet, a talking, decoration-loving Chain Chomp named CiaoCiao, is important to the game’s trading sequence, desiring a Bow to wear on its head.

Usually found in aquatic Mario levels, Bloopers and Cheep Cheeps lurk around the underwater passages of Catfish’s Maw, threatening Link as he swims through the tunnels. In Link’s Awakening for Nintendo Switch, these creatures are also swimming around in the fishing minigame, allowing Link a chance to reel them in.

Classic ghostly foes such as Ghinis can be found in the creepier places of Koholint, but the Bottle Grotto is home to some Boos, ghosts from Mario who prefer to sneak up on Mario while his back is turned. By lighting one of the room’s torches with Magic Powder, Link is able to scare off the light-shy ghosts.

Fending off ghosts with light is explored again in later Zelda games. In The Wind Waker, the Earth Temple’s boss Jalhalla breaks into a crowd of Poes, another similar ghost enemy from the Zelda series, that must be scattered through strategic use of light with the Mirror Shield.

Spinies, or Spiked Beetles as they are known in Zelda, have an armor that makes them impervious to all attacks. Once they are flipped over, they can be defeated by striking their vulnerable underside. This makes them similar to later Zelda enemies such as Snappers.

Goombas, Piranha Plants, and even Thwomps appear in side-scrolling levels in several dungeons. They behave very similarly to their Mario counterparts in these areas: Goombas are vulnerable to a jump on the head with the Roc’s feather, or Link’s sword and various other weapons in his arsenal. Link can either jump over Piranha Plants or dispatch them with his blade, while Thwomps are hazards that must be avoided.

Pokeys can be found in desert levels in Mario, and also make an appearance in Yarna Desert. Similar to their Mario counterparts, the spiny foes can be dispatched by Link with his sword by hitting each segment until the entire stack is defeated (or in one hit by using another weapon, such as the Hookshot or Magic Rod). Pokeys tend to be yellow in most Mario titles, but the Koholint variant is cactus green.

Shy Guys can be found in in the Bottle Grotto and Face Shrine, and are a bit of a departure from the usual patterns of Shy Guys in Mario, who are simple to defeat with a normal jump. Link has to be a little more clever to dispatch a Shy Guy, as it mirrors all of his movements. A spin attack from behind, with Link’s back facing the enemy, is enough to get around its protective mask. Interestingly, spin attacks are also effective against Dark Link in Ocarina of Time, who also mirrors Link’s movements.

While the trend of adding Mario enemies to Zelda games mostly dropped off after Link’s Awakening (with the exception of a handful being included in the Oracle and Four Swords games), Zelda has continued to include Easter eggs referencing the series and their long history being developed alongside each other. Many of the Mario enemies in Link’s Awakening even seem to have provided inspiration for new Zelda monsters and mechanics down the line.