I was browsing online one day, reading about everyone’s favorite shop keeper in the Zelda series, Beedle, when I came across a face I hadn’t seen for many, many years. Or, well, the golden helmet he wears hides most of his features, but you get what I’m saying. I definitely recognized him and I recall that his store seemed quite dark inside, but I started reading since I needed a small reminder of what made him so special. Perhaps you do, too?
Beedle first made an appearence in The Wind Waker as the insect-loving, overly-grateful shop keeper who can be found everywhere across the Great Sea. His shop, a simple boat, is loaded with wares for Link to purchase. However, there is one shop that can be found nearby Rock Spire Island which is unique since it’s not run by Beedle but rather by his Assistant Manager.
When Link enters the Rock Spire Shop Ship, a man wearing a golden Roman-looking Centurion helmet is ready to assist him. He’s slim like Beedle, wears the same shorts as Beedle, and even speaks in the same, enthusiastic way as him, but he doesn’t present himself as Beedle. In fact, if Link tries to sell this mysterious, definitely-not-Beedle-salesperson some Spoils, items that are occasionally dropped by defeated enemies, he insists that he is not interested in them since he clearly isn’t Beedle.
When I played The Wind Waker as a child, I didn’t quite buy the idea that he wasn’t Beedle. His mannerisms were simply too similar, not to mention the way he looked. His Rock Spire Shop Ship even appears on Beedle’s chart so you’ll know where to find it. Too many things suggest that this mysterious seller really is Beedle after all. What I didn’t understand though was why he felt the need to hide his identity. Was it a marketing ploy, to act mysterious by wearing the helmet and make his wares seem more special? It wouldn’t be out of character, in my opinion.
The Assistant Manager uses one sales method to get Link to buy, and it’s a tactic based on high pressure and emotions, especially stress. It starts with an advertisement disguised as a letter that is sent to Link once he upgrades his wallet, informing him that the Rock Spire Shop Ship exists and that this is his “big chance!!!” to buy some rare pieces before someone else snags them first. And then it continues inside the shop itself.
The first time Link enters the shop, the Assistant Manager is thrilled to let him know that he’s having a clearance sale (after mentioning that he’s never seen the young hero before… suspicious!) that will end in just a week along with the closing of the store. He’s selling a clear, empty Bottle, a Treasure Chart, and a Piece of Heart, for hefty prices; 500 Rupees for the Bottle, a whopping 900 Rupees for the chart, and 950 Rupees for the Piece of Heart. Bargain prices, according to the letter that was sent to Link. If Link buys everything, that makes this Assistant Manager 1900 Rupees richer, and he better buy them now before they’re gone. There’s only one of each product, after all! Buy, buy, buy!
Once that week of clearance sales has ended, and the shop ship remains. It turns out it wasn’t exactly a clearance sale because the items are still there if Link didn’t buy them all, for sale at the same prices as before. In other words, the cunning Assistant Manager tried to pressure Link into buying the products. If Link visits the shop after the “clearance sale” has ended, the Assistant Manager is excited to let him know that they’re having a grand re-opening and, you guessed it, another sale to celebrate the occasion! And Link ought to be wise to buy them now during this re-opening sale so he won’t regret it later, right?!
Beedle’s Assistant Manager is a peculiar salesperson, one that lingers in your memory like Ocarina of Time‘s Poe Collector. Strange, masked, and maybe someone you shouldn’t trust too much. They’re exactly the kind of shopkeepers I like in games, far from perfect, a bit odd, and with their own personalities that makes visiting their shops interesting. So far, the Assistant Manager has only appeared in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, selling ship parts and other various goods and treasures on his Masked Ship, but I would be thrilled to meet him in a future game again.
