Famous Zelda Quotes

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Famous Zelda Quotes

Some lines stick with you for decades. Here are 30 of the most famous, funniest and strangest things people say in Zelda games, from the old man's sword in 1986 to the CD-i cutscenes the internet never let go of. Every screenshot is from the game itself.

The Legend of Zelda NES, 1986

“It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.”
The old man in the first cave
He hands Link his first sword before you have taken a dozen steps. It is probably the most quoted line in all of gaming, and it has been on T-shirts, memes and other games ever since.

“Buy somethin' will ya!”
The cave shopkeepers
The merchants hiding in caves all over Hyrule greet you the same pushy way. Mind the prices: the same item can cost more in one cave than another.

“Grumble, grumble...”
The hungry Goriya in Level 7
He blocks the way until you feed him. The answer is the Bait from the shop, and it is one of the first puzzles in the series that is not about fighting.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link NES, 1987

“I am Error.”
A man in the town of Ruto
It looks like a glitch, but Error is just his name. In the Japanese version he has a friend called Bagu, so the joke was "Error" and "Bug"; the English version kept Error and the line became legend.

“Sorry. I know nothing.”
Townspeople with nothing to say
Half the fun of Zelda II was talking to everyone for clues, and plenty of them had none to give.

“If all else fails use fire.”
A townsperson's advice
One of the game's famously short hints. It is good advice, too: the Fire spell is the answer to a few enemies that shrug off your sword.

“Game Over. Return of Ganon.”
The Game Over screen
Ganon's minions want Link's blood to bring their master back, so every Game Over shows Ganon's silhouette and the words nobody wanted to see.

“You saved Hyrule and you are a real hero!”
The ending
The reward for beating one of the hardest games on the NES.

“Thanks a million. Push start to replay.”
The last screen of the game
And then you could start all over again, with your levels and spells carried over.

More on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

A Link to the Past SNES, 1991

“Link! Help! The soldiers are coming to Sanctuary! AIEEEEEE!”
Zelda, by telepathy
Right after you pull the Master Sword, Zelda calls for help, and the message ends in one of the most memorable screams ever put in a text box.

“What do you want?! Do you have something to say to me, silly rabbit?!”
A Dark World villager
Without the Moon Pearl, Link turns into a pink rabbit in the Dark World, and the locals let him know it.

“Oh! Happy days are here again! You found my partner! We are very happy now...”
The smithy in Kakariko
Bring his lost partner back from the Dark World and the two of them will temper your sword.

“Now, hold it above your head for the whole world to see, OK? It's good for business!”
A shopkeeper
A wink at Link's famous item pose: even the people in the game know he holds up everything he gets.

“Pay no attention to the average middle-aged man standing by this sign.”
A signpost
A sign with a man standing right next to it, and a nod to "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" from The Wizard of Oz.

“... I see. I won't ask you again... Good bye.”
A disappointed character
What you get for answering "No". Some Zelda characters take rejection harder than others.

“My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, OK?”
The Chris Houlihan room
A hidden room full of Rupees, named after the winner of a Nintendo Power contest whose prize was to appear in a Nintendo game. Finding it was a playground rumor for years.

“And the Master Sword sleeps again... forever!”
The ending
The last line before the credits, with the sword back in its pedestal in the Lost Woods.

Link's Awakening Game Boy, 1993

“Hey! Are you listening?”
Marin, on the beach
Marin tells Link about her dream of leaving the island, and catches him drifting off. Years before Navi, "Hey! Listen!" had an ancestor.

“Monkey business! Done! Bye bye!”
Kiki the monkey
Trade Kiki some bananas and he and his friends build you a bridge to Kanalet Castle in seconds.

“YAHOO! I'm fine, and you?!”
A Mabe Village local
Koholint Island is full of people who are much too cheerful for an island that only exists in a dream.

The CD-i Games Philips CD-i, 1993

Nintendo let Philips make three Zelda games for its CD-i player. Two of them, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, open with hand-drawn cartoon cutscenes that have become some of the most remixed clips on the internet. The clips play silently on loop; tap the speaker for sound. More about these games on our CD-i Zelda games page.