Those who have played Link’s Awakening may be aware that Koholint Island is home to a great many references to worlds outside of the Zelda series. Well known characters such as Kirby and Yoshi make cameos as enemies and items respectively, but one lesser known reference actually happens to have a more relevant role in the story. The young man named Richard who asks Link to retrieve his five golden leaves happens to originally be from a game called The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls.
It isn’t really made clear if the Richard we see on Koholint Island is the very same person as Prince Richard, but at the very least they look incredibly similar. The Richard we see on Koholint Island used to live in Kanalet Castle, was kicked out by his servants who went berserk, and then moved to Richard’s Villa towards the outskirts of the area. He enlists Link’s help in recovering his Golden Leaves from the Castle Grounds, which ends up netting Link the Slime Key which he needs to continue on with his journey.
In his originating game, Richard is known as Prince Richard of the Custard Kingdom and competes with the protagonist, Prince Sablé, to save a princess in a faraway land. The Richard of Koholint doesn’t mention his history from his originating game, and only speaks as though he’s lived his whole life in Kanalet Castle. It stands to reason that the Richard from Koholint is a different Richard than the one from The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls, who also looks very similar, and just so happens to inhabit a villa overrun by frogs.
All of this speculation on Richard’s identity is, of course, ignoring the fact that Koholint and all of its residents are merely parts of the Wind Fish’s dream, and are thus not real. This would easily explain why this version of Richard never mentions his past from The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls, but it is worth mentioning that Prince Richard is not a stranger to sailing from his original game. It’s possible that the Prince Richard we meet on Koholint was simply another shipwrecked adventurer, much like Link, who decided to cozy up inside Kanalet Castle. Regardless of whether or not this is the true Richard, I hope you find yourself as interested in The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls as I am. Personally, I’m going to have to give it a try so that I can get to know Prince Richard even better.
