The Mystery of the Harper

By Jaraad Varani

The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, quite possibly the best game there will ever be for a video game console. A game full of time, adventure, good and evil, and of mystery. While the game's release is scheduled for November 23, 1998 I think I have already caught on to one of the Zelda series most intriguing and interesting mysteries: the connection between a mysterious new character and the hero of a great epic. The two I speak of are none other than the mysterious harpist and Link. I believe that this harpist has more to do with link than just teach him songs on his ocarina. My theory is that the harpist is one of the Links in the later adventures, he is in fact the real Link, or he is somehow related to the hyrulian hero.

The reason I stand behind this theory is because of the hair. If you have had a chance to look at the artwork and drawings for Zelda 64 you might have noticed that Link’s hair is blonde, while in the game it is a reddish/orange. Why?

Now here is where my hair problem ties in with the mysterious harper. I finally got a chance to see the harper’s face up close and what do you know? He looks remarkably similar to Link and I also noticed that his hair…is blonde. Now this fact alone could get you thinking. Just take a look at these pictures.

I later found out that in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Link finds a magical harp. This leads me to the conclusions of my theory: That the harpist is one of the Links in the later Zelda adventures because of the reappearance of a similar harp, that the harpist is somehow related to Link due to similarities in facial features, and that the harpist is in fact the real link due to his likeness to the drawings of Link.

Of course the fact remains that I could be wrong. I could be so far off the true story line that if Nintendo ever read this theory they would laugh in my face. But one fact remains. Zelda is a true epic through and through, and while there may not be a bigger role for this shrouded knight other than to pluck harp strings, I have faith that The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time will have the best story of any game on the Nintendo 64. Is there truth to my theory? Is it all much, much more than just relations or is it much less? For now the answer to these questions is: "Only time will tell."

I hope people find this theory interesting and that my time was well spent, I count the days until the most anticipated game of all time is released.