MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The Undead are probably amongst some of the most common video game enemies a player can encounter in any video game that isn’t attempting to be set within a realistic world. Even then, there are DLCs that can add the undead to the gaming experience. As an enemy class, they can add some ratings safe violence or some extra horror to your setting. Yet, their depictions and usage will vary depending on genre and can even vary within games of the same franchise which is a testament to their versatility. The Legend of Zelda as a franchise has had at least two undead enemies per entry. Yet, each time the undead appear, their depictions do change from game to game. Whether it be a smaller change or a difference in how the undead and death are depicted in general. This can be seen by looking at how the undead and death are depicted across various games of the series. In order to keep the scope more limited, it’ll only be a selection of games from the main console releases and how they depict the undead and death. The selected games are Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Breath of the Wild. Even between Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, the way death and the undead are depicted change. This difference in how this theme and these enemies can vary even between two games of a franchise that are directly connected demonstrates how versatile these enemies and the themes they represent can be.