Tarin

From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia

Tarin
Race	Human
Gender	Male
First appearance	Link's Awakening
Family	Marin (daughter)

Tarin is the friendly father of Marin, the girl who finds Link washed up on the beach of Koholint Island in Link's Awakening. Like Talon, he has a large resemblance to Mario, and this resemblance is intentional, as the game has many nods to Mario games.^[1] Tarin has a big interest in mushrooms. In the ending scene, Tarin can be seen picking mushrooms in the Mysterious Woods.

When Link wakes up at the beginning of the game, Tarin gives him his shield back. After Link retrieves his Sword, Tarin becomes lost in the Mysterious Woods and is transformed into a raccoon by eating a toadstool. Link breaks the curse by sprinkling Magic Powder on him, but Tarin later has no recollection of what happened to him and thinks it was a dream. Tarin is solely responsible for Link obtaining the Honeycomb being part of the trading sequence. When Link gives him the stick in Ukuku Prairie, Tarin knocks down the bee hive to which he is chased off by a swarm of angry bees.

Trivia

• Tarin shares some of his physical traits with Link's Uncle, especially with how Link's Uncle is depicted on official artworks from A Link to the Past.
• Marin and Tarin share a number of similarities with Malon and Talon introduced in Ocarina of Time (the next game in the series), which may indicate that Malon and Talon were based off of these two characters.
• Tarin also bears many similarities with Mario. Both sport similar dark hair, hair style, a large nose, mustache, red shirt and an affinity for mushrooms. He also transforms into a raccoon/tanooki at one point, a power Mario has in several of his games.

Gallery

• 

  Marin, Tarin, and Link in front of the Weathercock

• 

  The first appearance of Tarin

• 

  Tarin sleeping at home

References

1. ↑ "I remember that we made Link’s Awakening in a really peculiar frame of mind. We began in the free spirit of an afterschool club, so the contents are quite unrestrained. If you look at it, you can tell. Characters similar to Mario and Luigi appear and Yoshi Dolls appear, too." —Takashi Tezuka (Iwata Asks - Zelda Handheld History (2. Kirby and Chomps in Zelda))

Names in Other Regions
Language		Name
Japanese		タリン (Tarin)