The Dark World has been a theme in The Legend of Zelda series ever since it’s debut in A Link to the Past. Its concept is simple, it’s usually a world that is a mirror, inverse or “darker” world of Hyrule compared to the normal or “light” version of it. In this version of Hyrule its inhabitants are usually evil or meaner, have been banished or have met with an unfortunate fate. In A Link Between Worlds, this game’s Dark World is known as Lorule, a parallel version of Hyrule that, as you guessed it, has met with an unfortunate fate.
Beginning in A Link to the Past, the Dark world was born from Ganon’s wish to rule the world of Hyrule. That wish reflected the darkness in his heart and transformed the Sacred Realm into a dark, twisted version of Hyrule. This world also portrayed its inhabitants in a darker tone. If a town such as Kakariko was lively and bustling with good hearted people, then its Dark World version would be in ruin with thieves running around trying to steal from you. People that wander into the Dark World become transformed too, usually by what is reflected in their hearts. If you have a good heart, you might turn into a pink bunny like Link did or if you are mean spirited you might turn into a monster such as the Bully who runs around kicking his ball shaped friend. Just hope that you aren’t the who person who is always is changing their mind, or you might just end up as the ball. This concept of transforming upon entering the Dark World is seen again in later Zeldas, even if there are more subtle ways it is portrayed, such as with Ravio in A Link Between Worlds.
In A Link Between Worlds, Lorule has its own kingdom. It has a castle, inhabitants, and its own monarchy complete with its own benevolent princess by the name of Hilda. This world is almost an exact inverse of the Light World in more ways than one. Hyrule has its hero, Link, courageous and true, whereas his Lorule counterpart, Ravio, is more of a coward. While Hyrule’s Princess Zelda is kind and fair, Princess Hilda is colder and conniving. It even had its own inverted Triforce that was destroyed in an attempt to keep its people from waging war over it. However, destroying this world’s Triforce left Lorule in a destructive state as it was slowly dying. Princess Hilda did not want to see her world perish so she came up with a divisive plan to steal Hyrule’s Triforce and save her kingdom.
She sent her subordinate, Yuga, to Hyrule in an attempt to steal its Triforce but was betrayed when Yuga revived Ganon. Yuga then merged with Ganon gaining the Triforce of Power. After doing so he then stole the Triforce of Wisdom from Princess Hilda, that she had previously stolen from Princess Zelda. Luckily, Link, who had gained the Triforce of Courage, was able to defeat Yuga and claim the other two triforce pieces, thus creating the fully completed Triforce. Using the fully formed Triforce’s power, Link and Zelda were able to wish back Lorule’s Triforce, ultimately saving the land of Lorule from its utter destruction and bringing about a new era for it to prosper from.
There are other Legend of Zelda games that have adopted “Dark Worlds” of their own. While not as on the nose as games like A Link to the Past or A Link Between Worlds, they have some of the same concepts. One of the biggest games featuring its own version of the Dark World was none other than Twilight Princess. In this game, Hyrule’s “Dark World” was known as the Twilight Realm. The Twilight Realm was a place where people that were accused of certain crimes such as wielding forbidden or dark magic, were banished to. Unable to return to the world of Light, they eventually adopted the Twilight Realm and learned to live peacefully inside it, until once again, Ganondorf intervenes. His malice and greed for power leads an evil sorcerer by the name of Zant to embark on a mission to take over the world of light.
This eventually leads to the Twilight Realm encroaching upon the world of Light, turning its inhabitants into spirit forms of which they are unaware that anything has changed. Thankfully, the Link of that world who posses a power (the Triforce of Courage) that keeps him from turning into a spirit, is able to overcome the threats he faces with the assistance of the Twilight Realm’s Princess, Midna.
Keeping with the same format of people transforming upon entering a Dark World, Twilight Princess made for an entertaining twist on the Dark World formula. This version of the Dark World transformed its people into spirits and its animals into hideous creatures. The dangers of the Twilight Realm definitely set a tone for following Zelda games and this wasn’t the last time we would see one. In today’s most recent Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom, we received another version of this classic trope.
Tears of the Kingdom took everything that made its predecessor, Breath of the Wild amazing and added its own twist to it, including its version of the Dark World known as the Depths. Being the most expansive Legend of Zelda map to date was already a huge feat of its own. Tears of the Kingdom took that same concept and applied it to the skies above as well as the Depths below. And the Depths are massive. Borrowing on the idea of a whole complete map as the Light World, the Depths is quite literally just as huge as the world above.
The Depths takes the inverse part of the Dark World formula and applies it to the topography. Hills and mountains on the surface become valleys and slopes down in the Depths. If Link is to climb a huge mountain up on the surface then his Depths’ counterpart will be an easy drop into a huge chasm. Shrines on the surface also have a depth counterpart called Lightroots and once this is understood, knowing where one is will help you find the other. And while coming into the Depths won’t transform Link physically, being down there exposed to that atmosphere will not allow Link to recover his health properly unless he is under a Lightroot or has prepared a meal for it, that helps to cure what is called Gloom. Even more noticeable is how down in the Depths, it is truly a “Dark World” seeing as how there is absolutely no light down there until Link activates a Lightroot or brings his own light such as Brightbloom Seeds or a torch.
A Link Between Worlds was a great game that took the Dark World and made it into one the most memorable experiences in any Zelda game. Not only was it a dangerous but exciting place to be, we also got new characters that many fans love and would like to see again. Ravio and Yuga both made their appearance in Hyrule Warriors as playable characters and Zelda even got an alternate costume based off of Princess Hilda. And while not every game has a Dark World, its safe to say that A Link Between Worlds has one of the best ones. Here’s hoping one day we get to play it on the Switch or Switch’s successor. Maybe even a remake? Hey, one can only dream.
