When we were younger, the Game Boy’s classic Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993) was a gem of a title. It’s a wonderful game—packed full of adventuring, charm, and exploration.
Nintendo’s action-adventure romp also contained a few brutal life lessons. It’s possible to shoplift from a tool shop in Mabe Village on Koholint Island, an action that’s very tempting… but carries with it some of the most hellish consequences ever seen in a game (from that era).
Paying for Your Crimes in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Okay, so that’s the 1998 Game Boy Colour version of Link’s Awakening above. But the result is the same as the original—you can go into the tool shop and purchase items from the shifty looking shop owner. This psychopath here.
Keep in mind, earlier in the game the greedy SOB charges you 980 rupees for the bow and arrow set. That takes ages for you to save up for, thus Nintendo prompts you towards a more nefarious intention. Swiping the bastard and legging it one.
If you do that and leave the shop, the game tells you:
“Guess what? You got it for free. Are you proud of yourself?”
As soon as you’ve done that, your chosen name for the adventure (Link or whatever you want to be called) is replaced by THIEF. In full capitals. For the rest of the game, constantly reminding you of your heinous crime.
Worse still, as you’ve likely seen in the above clip, the shop owner will murder you dead when you head back into his store. And he does that in a very brutal way, taking great relish in electrocuting you dramatically.
“I wasn’t kidding when I say pay! Now, you’ll pay the ultimate price!!”
Really hammering home the point there, Nintendo.
However, despite that life lesson you can continue returning to the store and stealing everything he has to offer. He’ll just execute you every time you return to the shop.
This bit of the game remained in for the Link’s Awakening Switch remake (2019). If anything, it’s even more brutal in this one as Link gurgles in horror as he fries.
Now, obviously, we know about this as we did steal from that shopkeeper circa 1993.
We took great shame in being called THIEF for the rest of the game by absolutely everyone you meet, including the legendary Windfish at the end of the game. The mystical being whom sets you free from the island, whilst also condemning your criminal record.
But it’s little additions like this that have made the Legend of Zelda series so memorable (and enduringly popular).
Link Getting Caught in the Shoplifting Act
For Link’s Awakening DX (1998), the updated Game Boy Colour version, Nintendo went a step further with the shoplifting malarkey. Koholint Island’s solitary photographer, hidden away, snaps the above shot of Link breaking the law.
Kind of like a CCTV snap to prove you’re a devious no good bastard.
This was Nintendo nodding fondly to the 1993 inclusion, clearly aware it had caused quite the talking point amongst fans. Pre-internet and social media era, it’s good to know the company was aware these things were popular.
The Zelda games are packed full of worldly wisdom, but this THIEF bit has fallen out of favour in the most recent titles. It was, however, referenced in the eerie Twilight Princess (2007) if you shoplift in that game.
There are other little Zelda gems from over the years.
Alongside the I AM ERROR text in Zelda II (1987), the THIEF line is iconic retro Zelda lore. That and the chickens thing, where you’re killed by a swarm of chickens if you keep attacking them.
Unlike the THIEF line, which dropped out of favour from the series, the above chicken attack has remained a constant in every game since Link’s Awakening.
Nintendo’s message is clear—theft is fine. ATTACKING CHICKENS IS NOT!! 🐔
Seriously, though, it says a lot about Nintendo’s message here that 30+ years on from being called a THIEF, it’s stuck with us and deterred us from wider crimes. We owe our strong moral compass all to Link’s Awakening.
