I think it’s reasonable to say that every Zelda game possesses its fair share of unexpectedly dark moments. Witnessing Flute Boy’s death in A Link to the Past, watching the Moon obliterate Termina in Majora’s Mask, and discovering the gruesome fates of the Champions in Breath of the Wild all serve as sobering reminders that these fun adventure games each have a menacing underbelly. But perhaps the most horrific moment of all belongs to Ocarina of Time: Adult Link enters Castle Town Market for the first time in seven years, only to find that its denizens have seemingly been killed and transformed into monstrous ReDeads.
Once the initial shock has worn off, though, we find out that this scene isn’t what it appears to be on the surface. The residents of the market did survive Ganondorf’s onslaught, fleeing to Kakariko Village and moving their businesses into the abandoned buildings sprinkled throughout the small burg. But that leaves us with a problem: If the ReDeads in Castle Town Market aren’t the old residents, then who could they be? I mean, they are undead zombies, right?
As it turns out, that may also be a false assumption. Outside of the Zelda games, ReDeads have appeared multiple times throughout the Super Smash Bros. franchise, and the trophy information in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U paints a much different picture of these nightmarish ghouls.
“Clay monsters”? It’s bizarre enough that ReDeads aren’t the reanimated corpses we thought them to be, but the fact that they are made from clay is an oddly specific detail that seems out of place in the Hyrulian bestiary. After all, most of Ganondorf’s minions are composed solely of dark magic, as they burst into colorful flames when destroyed. So why would he waste his time molding clay creatures that move slowly and pose little overall threat to Link? Well, if the ReDeads are related in any way to the “Haniwa” of ancient Japan, he may not have needed to lift a single finger.
Haniwa figurines are important cultural artifacts from the Kofun period of Japanese history (300-538 AD). Sculpted from terracotta clay, these unusual statues played a key role in funerary rituals of the time, as they were either buried with the deceased or arranged in circular patterns around the tombs of high-ranking individuals. Many of the ones recovered from archaeological sites depict human warriors and civilians, but the grave offerings also included animals, such as horses and chickens, and inanimate objects such as weapons and houses. And a pair of “dancing” figures housed in the Tokyo National Museum, with their wide eyes and elongated limbs, bear a particularly uncanny resemblance to our petrifying friends.
As is the case with countless other items from Japanese history, Haniwa figurines are tinged with an air of supernatural intrigue. On one hand, they are believed to serve as guardians of the tombs they encircle, equipped with weapons and armor to fend off evil entities. But on the other hand, they have also been depicted as vessels for the souls of the deceased, especially those that have a vendetta against the living. The fact that the ReDeads in Ocarina of Time are usually found protecting their individual graves or patrolling over some important treasure (like the Lens of Truth and the Sun’s Song) suggests that they fall into the first category, but they have enough in common with both that a definitive conclusion cannot be reached.
But here’s the real kicker: if ReDeads are indeed the Hyrulean equivalent of Haniwa, that means that Ganondorf played absolutely no role in their creation. The clay figurines themselves would have been made by Hylians to bury with their dead, then brought to life by supernatural forces that lie outside the sphere of Ganondorf’s influence. Therefore, they would be one of the very few enemies in the entire game to potentially survive the aftermath of the Demon King’s defeat. Imagine that: The wielder of the Triforce of Power is sealed away, but the living terracotta statues get to stay. How embarrassing!
At any rate, it’s pretty amazing to think that such an inconsequential detail in a Super Smash Bros. game could connect the ReDeads to a ritualistic statue from a specific time period in ancient Japan. While it’s rather unlikely that the creators of the games put that much time and effort into adding such details, I personally like to think that they dangle those loose threads on purpose. Unanswered questions can send curious individuals down exciting paths of discovery, and even though the answers they find may not be “canon,” the journey itself can be an incredibly enlightening experience. My own investigations into the Zelda series have helped me learn more about the world around me and have deepened my appreciation for the games I love. So if you ever find yourself puzzling over an unsolved mystery in the land of Hyrule, I say launch an investigation and see where your research takes you!
