The Legend of Zelda (Ran)

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA (RAN)

I am really excited, because today, we get to start the manga, which was a pleasantly surprising branch of the Zelda series that I got to discover when doing this series. Well, most of it. Like all things, there are some weirdies out there, and this one . . . left a bad taste in my mouth. Like, it started good, but the mangaka, Ran Maru, had a horribly itchy trigger finger when it came to character deaths, and most character arcs ended up going nowhere because he decided to kill the character off in a BIG SHOCKING TWIST at the end of a random chapter. A lot.

Anyway, Ran's run as the Zelda mangaka was published in 1986 by Wanpaku Comics. He wrote two runs, the first based on The Legend of Zelda, the second based on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as a sequel to the first adventure. The first one mostly follows the game it's based on, the second one took a few more liberties (needless to say this is where all the random deaths happen).

Both comics star a Link that is an adventurer by trade, who happened to wander into Hyrule just as Impa was fleeing from Ganon's forces. He wields a slingshot, sword, shield, bow, boomerang, bombs, and a magic wand. He is also constantly accompanied by a parrot named Watto. In the second story, he could also become a fairy, use healing magic, summon thunder, fly on his shield, and use a raft.

Zelda also appears in the story, not doing much for the first game, but joining Link on his adventure for most of the second, wielding a club, rope, sword, and flute, casting spells, transforming herself, and riding on the back of a giant sea monster. Sadly, she dies. Then Link carries her body around for a couple of chapters pursuing the means to resurrect her. Then she just kinda gets dropped in lava during a random battle and forgotten about. Then the second Zelda (the sleeping one) takes her place as ruler, and Link decides not to use the Triforce to resurrect her for some reason, even though it was established it could. At least, it sounded like it could.

We got to see a few original supporting characters. For the first comic and the second, Link and Zelda had a recurring companion named Biri, or Billy, a local village boy who guides Link through Hyrule and becomes Zelda's captain of the guard for his service. He wielded a sword, and summoned a mob of townspeople, complete with torches, pitchforks, and battering rams, to storm Ganon's Castle and help Link. Another was Hercules, who tries to crush Link with a rock. Then there's Couscous, a moleman who joins Link and a companion and gives Link a whole backstory about wanting to become human. Then he dies. A chapter later. And you just forget about him. He could cast spells, claw, and bite.

Then there was Birina, a local village girl who I think was supposed to be a female counterpart to Biri, but didn't do much. Then there was Gump (Name spelling is mostly guesswork here, I read this through a video where a reader translated it all for you, but since it was spoken, I could only go off what they read), a wolfman and sword master who trained Link in everything he knows, could fight with a sword and a training staff, and could flip high into the air to surprise opponents. He dies too. Then there was Shemlon (Also uncertain on name), a blacksmith living in a local village, who could work a forge, enchant the swords he created, wield those swords, and use them to reflect attacks. He did not die, surprisingly enough.

Ganon is the main villain of the story, both technically. In the first, he could burn with fire, throw a magic blast, disappear, and fly with wings. In the second, a masked figure known only as Ganon's Minion led his forces in trying to resurrect him, and its eventually revealed that he is the man who put the sleeping Zelda under her curse, and that he would eventually become Ganon (timey-wimey shenanigans). He could shock his opponents, summon a storm, teleport, and shapeshift, and in the end, Ganon's hand bursts from his stomach as he is freed once again. A lot of common minions appear, including Moblins, Goriyas, Stalfos, Wizzrobes, Octoroks, Vires, Zoras, Darknuts, Zols, Peahats, and Lynels.

At least one noteworthy location unique to the comic is a gigantic statue of Ganon that acts as his castle.

Anyway, here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Manga Link: slingshot, sword, shield, bow, boomerang, bombs, magic wand, Watto, become a fairy, healing magic, thunder, fly on shield, raft

Zelda: club, rope, sword, flute, spells, transform, sea monster

Biri: sword, torches, pitchforks, battering rams

Couscous: spells, claw, bite

Birina

Gump: trained Link, sword, training staff, flip

Shemlon: forge, enchant swords, sword, reflect

Ganon/Ganon's Minion: burn, magic blast, disappear, fly, shock, storm, teleport, shapeshift, Ganon's hand

Stages:

Ganon's Statue

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover Ran's successor, Cagiva Ataru, and his line of comics.