The 10 BEST Musical Easter Eggs in Zelda Games

10 Best Musical Easter Eggs in Zelda Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at our favorite musical Easter Eggs within the “Zelda” series, whether they’re well known at this point or not.

Notes of Importance

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)

“Ocarina of Time” is a sort-of retcon of the prologue seen in “A Link to the Past.” Both games tell of the Triforce, as well as Ganon’s human form searching for and eventually finding it. It was interesting seeing a few lines of text expanded into a full game. Koji Kondo, being the musical genius he is, found a clever way of linking those story beats musically. The opening title theme of the Super Nintendo game is short, but iconically heroic. In a famous cutscene from “Ocarina,” Link learns the story of the Golden Goddesses. During this scene, literally when the Triforce appears on-screen for the first time, you can hear the same notes of the title theme, just slowed down and used with angelic vocals.

A Band of Fans

“The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” (2000)

In “Majora’s Mask,” Nintendo introduced the Indigo-Go’s, an all-Zora rock band. Naturally, the group meant high potential for musical Easter Eggs, and Nintendo didn’t disappoint. When Link visits certain members, they’ll be playing renditions of old “Zelda” tunes, just on their instrument of choice. The drummer, Tijo, plays the Cave theme from “A Link to the Past.” Japas, the bassist, plays the lower part of the original game’s dungeon theme. Bandleader and pianist Evan plays the Game Over theme, also from the first game. Interestingly, one sidequest sees Link help out the band’s manager with a performance of their song, “Ballad of the Wind Fish,” though it sounds nothing like the song from “Link’s Awakening.”

File Select Themes

“The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening” (1993)

“Zelda” is known for including Easter Eggs when naming your file, and “Link’s Awakening” goes the musical route. In the original version, naming your file ‘Zelda’ would make a new, more upbeat version of the classic overworld theme play. However, some versions released in different countries got their own Easter Eggs. In the French version, the file name of ‘Lolo’ caused unique music to play. Naming your file ‘Moyse’ in the German version also had original music, though neither of those songs are from “Zelda” and were likely hidden by those who worked on the translations. In Japan, naming your file ‘Totakeke’ would cause ‘Totaka’s Song’ to play, named for the famous game composer who hides it in most Nintendo games he works on. Finally, in the 2019 remake, in addition to the ‘Zelda’ and ‘Totakeke’ Easter Eggs, naming your file ‘Marin’ lets you hear a jazzier version of “Ballad of the Wind Fish.”

Nostalgic Notes

“The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap” (2005)

Like many elements from the game, the title sequence from “Ocarina of Time” is beloved by fans the world over. As many players already know, the first notes of the central melody, played on an Ocarina, are the same as what you hear when Link plays the Recorder in the first game. However, this short tune is a bit more well-hidden in another entry, “The Minish Cap.” The theme of one of the game’s areas, the Wind Ruins, includes those same notes in a different instrument and key. Fittingly, this was the former home of the Wind Tribe and after completing its dungeon, Link earns the Ocarina of Wind…and guess what it sounds like when he plays it?

A Castle In Reverse

“The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds” (2013)

There are a few cases in the series where Nintendo has taken notes from a song and reimagined them by playing them backwards. ‘Ballad of the Goddess’ from “Skyward Sword” does this with ‘Zelda’s Lullaby.’ However, our favorite instance of this occurs in “A Link Between Worlds.” The game’s final challenge is Lorule Castle, which has one of the franchise’s best dungeon themes. It scales with every floor Link reaches, adding more instruments as he climbs. As cool as that is, which is very, it also weaves in the traditional Hyrule Castle theme in reverse, which first appeared in its spiritual predecessor, “A Link to the Past.” Since Lorule is like a dark reflection of Hyrule, the reversed tune is appropriate on top of being awesome.

Praise the Sun

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)

Back when day-and-night cycles were brand new in games, “Ocarina of Time” gave players the option to easily switch between Dawn and Dusk through the ‘Sun’s Song.” Found in the Kakariko Village graveyard, it made interacting with the world easier since different characters appeared and different events occurred depending on the time of day. But if it sounded familiar to you when Link learned it, that was by design. The notes of the ‘Sun’s Song’ play at the beginning of this game’s Overworld theme, every time the Sun rises. They’re just played much faster and in a higher pitch. The beginning of the overworld theme sounds like you’re waking and greeting the day, and it was clever of Nintendo to pair it with an in-game mechanic.

A New Place to Roost

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” (2017)

“The Legend of Zelda” has featured a lot of races and cultures that only appear in one game. Thankfully, after debuting in “The Wind Waker,” the Rito were brought back and expanded on over a decade later in “Breath of the Wild.” Now, there were a lot of standout songs in “Wind Waker,” but by far the fandom’s favorite was that of the Rito’s home, Dragon Roost Island. Nintendo knew exactly what to do with the race’s new home; the music of Rito Village is slower and cozier, but it still includes the theme that so many of us fell in love with years ago. Honestly, it was like a warm blanket of nostalgia that stopped us in our tracks. It was also used tremendously in “Tears of the Kingdom” for Colgera’s boss fight, this time filling us with heroism.

The Geoglyphs

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” (2023)

We’re not sure how anyone could have noticed this, but props to those that did. In “Tears of the Kingdom,” Link can visit geoglyphs across Hyrule, where he can experience a memory from the past left for him by Zelda. The music that plays at each of these locations is the same type of ambience. But the final few notes before each track loops back around are all different. If one strings these notes together in chronological order of the memories, they create not just their own melody, but a key part of the game’s main theme. Leave it to Nintendo’s composers to play with music in the most obscure ways possible.

Zelda’s Hidden Lullaby

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)

These days, every player knows the twist that Sheik, the male member of the Sheikah tribe who helps Adult Link in “Ocarina of Time,” is really Zelda in disguise. At the time, we thought he was just another new character, and that Zelda was just staying in hiding. But there’s a huge hint towards Sheik’s true identity that stares you in the face in every cutscene. Right in the middle of Sheik’s Theme are the notes Link plays for ‘Zelda’s Lullaby,’ just played on a different instrument and at a different tempo. Nintendo has since hidden ‘Zelda’s Lullaby’ in other areas of games, which fans can often pick out. But as this was only the second game to include it, most of us didn’t notice this Easter Egg until much later.

A Faithful Companion

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” (2017)

Many characters across the series have themes or motifs, and Fi’s from “Skyward Sword” is one of the best. It’s mystical when you first hear it, and made utterly heartbreaking during her goodbye at the end of the game. “Breath of the Wild” found an incredible way to repurpose it during two key scenes. You can hear her notes during the flashback when the sword speaks to Zelda about saving Link. You can hear it again in the DLC when Link fully powers up the blade. Both instances space out the notes and interweave them within the overall music, but shows that Fi has never really left our side. Nintendo used it again in “Tears of the Kingdom,” when Link sends the broken Master Sword back in time. Each moment tugged at our hearts, reminding us of their connection across time.

What’s your favorite musical Easter Egg from the series? Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great gaming videos every day!