A chance discovery in The Legend of Zelda: a link with the past led to a lasting mystery when unusual ghosts were discovered hiding in the game. Of course, there are many official ghostly monsters in the Zelda franchise, but this particular enemy was something completely different. Furthermore, the mechanics behind this intriguing mystery took many years to discover, allowing it to cement itself as a small but impressive gaming legend in the world. Zelda community.
Link has encountered several types of spirit over the years, with the most widespread being, without a doubt, The Legend of Zeldaof Poes. These monsters are typically enemies, although much more neutral Poes are common in Tears of the KingdomThe Depths extremely haunted. Another ghostly enemy found throughout the franchise is Ghini, typically distinguished by his unique eyes and lolling tongues. However, not all Zelda ghost is as easily understood as A link to the past proof.
A link to the past has a mysterious ghost
The Ghost Of Misery Mire has intrigued players for years
In the early 90s, a typical move by A link to the past led to an unusual discovery: the game’s Swamp of Evil area, often known by the same name as the dungeon it hosts, Misery Mire, appears to be haunted in its lower left section. As documented by that player, youon Gaming FAQ, The Ghost of the Swamp of Misery is completely invisible, does not attack and can still be defeated with some, but not all, attack forms available to Link in the game. This discovery naturally triggered a search for answers, which lasted years.
The Ghost of Misery Mire is most easily detected using the Bombos Medallion; using it will cause the Ghost of Misery Mire to burst into visible flames and die shortly after. However, Link can still attack the Ghost with his other weapons. Furthermore, early experiences with the Phantom only deepened the mystery; As the story of the discovery spread, two more Ghosts were found in other areas of the Swamp.
When attacked with the Bombos Medallion, the Ghost of Misery Mire always drops a random number of bombs, allowing Link to stockpile explosive items with little risk.
Several theories quickly arose regarding the true identity of the Ghost of the Swamp of Misery. One suggestion was that the Ghost was an enemy unique to the area whose coding had never been completed. Another theory was that its strange properties were entirely intentional, and that the Ghost of the Swamp of Misery was among the strange ones. Legend of Zelda Easter eggs were inserted by developers across the franchise. The truth would eventually emerge with the release of Hyrule Magica map editor for ALTTP originally released in 2006.
The ghost of misery is a defective Zora
A link to the past is haunted by its own code
Investigating A link to the pastcom code Hyrule Magic led people to discover that the Ghosts of Misery Mire are actually a group of flawed Zora-type enemies. More specifically, they are ‘FireBall Zora’, a coding label that refers to both the enemy Zora of the Light World and their Dark World counterparts, the Ku. Since the Swamp of Evil is located in the Dark World, technically the Ku is more precisely the true identity of the Ghost of Misery Mirealthough they are effectively the same entities, including behavior, in any case.
The strange properties of this decades-old product Legend of Zelda mystery are easily explained by their true identity and how these enemies intend to work in ALTTP. Zora (and Ku) are coded to appear in deep water, where they can dive before surfacing on another suitable block before attacking. However, the tiles that the Ghost of Misery Mire can appear on are all shallow water; as a result, the enemy cannot appear properlyalthough timed or indiscriminate attacks, such as using the Bombo Medallion, can still hit them.
Modern Patches Could Prevent Some New Zelda Mysteries
Glitches like The Ghost Of Misery Mire would be removed from new games
The Ghost of Misery Mire is a curious artifact of game design from decades past. At its core, it is simply a bug and as such, is something that would probably be unceremoniously eliminated from any modern game appeared in. However, in this classic title without modern update features, it has survived to become an intriguing mystery that has fascinated countless people. In that regard, it might seem a shame that something like the Ghost Swamp of Misery would never appear in a Zelda game again, at least not accidentally.
The Phantom of Misery is a small but notable part of A link to the pastThe franchise’s legacy and influence on the franchise, showing how even coding errors can become fascinating parts of a game. The game is arguably better for its inclusion, even if modern patching practices would probably never allow such mystery to exist. As such, the Ghost of Misery Mire is a product of its time, a flaw that only enhances the character of The Legend of Zelda: a link with the past.
Source: tul/GameFAQs