How ‘The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past’ Boss Agahnim Changed the Nintendo Series Forever
In The Legend of Zelda, Agahnim, Yuga, and countless other sorcerers have made the series no stranger to dark magic. It seems like most games could with their own take on an evil magic user assisting Ganondorf. However, Agahnim from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past pushed this trend to what it is today, and the Zelda series would not be the same without him.
In ‘The Legend of Zelda,’ Agahnim is one of the few semi-recurring villains besides Ganon
Like Mario always fights Bowser to save Princess Peach, Link always fights Ganon to rescue Princess Zelda. Some gamers have even complained that they wish more villains, like Vaati or Zant, would return or receive some acknowledgment.
While most Legend of Zelda villains are contained to one game, the Link to the Past boss Agahnim has broken that mold in some creative ways.
In The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, the Shadow Nightmares that Link battles to wake the Wind Fish transforms into ‘Agahnim’s Shadow.’ It mimics the real Agahnim’s attacks, and the player even defeats him in the same way.
In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the Kakariko Village elder, Sahasrahla, calls Agahnim a “deceitful wizard” that tried to revive Ganon.
Nintendo’s Hyrule Historia mentions that the magician in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has several similarities to Agahnim. The magician could have been a precursor to Agahnim or even the boss before he had a name.
While imitators and a mention seem fairly unimpressive, most villains in the Nintendo series never receive any attention outside of their main game.
Agahnim inspired several future characters in ‘The Legend of Zelda’ series
While in The Legend of Zelda, Agahnim has only seen acknowledgment outside of A Link to the Past a handful of times, his influence touched most future games.
In Oracle of Ages, Veran acts as the final boss during Link’s adventure in Labrynna. She spots the same blue-gray skin as Agahnim and powerful magic.
Vaati, the only recurring final boss of multiple games besides Ganon, also has roots in Agahnim. His appearance in The Minish Cap revealed that he was not always a sorcerer. He used to be part of the tiny race of Picori, where he had pale skin and wore a wizard’s robe.
Vaati appeared again in the Four Swords games. He wielded powerful magic that allowed him to transform into a monstrous creature to kidnap Princess Zelda.
Ganondorf’s dark priest is still inspiring more recent villains
Naturally, as The Legend of Zelda series grew, Agahnim influenced games that followed his first appearance. However, he even influenced later 3D Zelda titles.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword introduced the dangerous Ghirahim. A sorcerer once more possessing pale skin, even his name is almost an anagram for Agahnim.
Yuga from A Link Between Worlds has been hinted at being a mix of Ganondorf and Agahnim’s Lorule counterparts. As a dark mirror of Hyrule, Link has a parallel in Ravio, and Princess Zelda has Princess Hilda. Ganondorf and Yuga have many similarities, but Yuga once more has the pale skin and magic associated with Agahnim.
Finally, a new sorcerer appeared in the Breath of the Wild prequel game, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Astor, the ‘prophet of doom,’ has even more similarities to Agahnim than others. He has pale skin and magic but also wears a cloak and cape. His cult-like devotion to Ganon also directly parallels Agahnim.
Most fans focus on Link, Zelda, Ganon, and Impa as the most influential characters, but Agahnim deserves a spot right there with them.
