#ReDeads

[jullbnt]

Linktober 2023 – Day 11. Monsters

This one is a bit special I guess! I’m still not over the damn Redeads throwing a party in Ikana Castle, they were both horrifying and absolutely hilarious to me. I love it!

This part of the game was incredible and Stone Tower Temple might be my favorite dungeon ever.

(Fun fact: in French we call Redeads 'Effrois', which is French for terror or dread 🧐)

Previous (Day 10. Zelda) | Next (Day 12. Princess)

Linktober 2023 Masterlist

Linktober 2023 Majora's Mask

[telemna-hyelle]

So like, a week ago I had the thought, “redeads are such a classic LOZ monster, but they’ve only been in two games! It’d be neat if TOTK used them, after all, they’re so classic”

and now that TOTK may, in fact, be using them, the ‘it’d be a neat call back to OOT and WW’ side of me is rapidly dying underneath the onslaught of no no no no nO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOT AGAIN NOT AGAIIIIINNNNNNN

[saria88]

They gave Redeads pants. Amusing.

[wokewindz]

sooo i think it’s really fucked up how the first time you fight redeads in wind waker, you’re basically plopped into an inescapable pit with no access to light. you have to rawdog fighting not one, not two, but THREE FUCKING REDEADS for the VERY FIRST TIME YOU ENCOUNTER THEM. LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK NINTENDO. i wrote this fic about link’s first time encountering redeads. so here ya go.

—————

No Escape

The ancient, cold tomb in the Earth Temple had been still and silent a moment ago. That is, until Link nervously slid down into the pit of the room and slowly walked forward, where the five coffins that lined the wall in front of him suddenly burst open to reveal a threat he had yet to encounter until this moment. He stood frozen, his anxious heart thudding in his chest. His wide eyes were fixed on the three horrifying, alien creatures before him - Redeads.

Their decaying blue flesh hung from their skeletal figures like tattered rags, their empty eye sockets staring at him with a terrible malice before turning crimson as they let out the most piercing, horrifying screams Link had ever had the misfortune of hearing. Their wails sent shockwaves through the frightened child’s entire figure, making it near impossible for him to do anything except tremble uncontrollably in horror as he was forced to watch the three terrifying monsters slowly approach him with their massive, unhinged jaws. Their gaping mouths were open wide with one purpose - to devour the young hero with their unsettlingly large teeth by any means necessary.

There was a brief break in the horrific screaming, giving Link a small window of precious time to move. To draw the Master Sword and rid this room of these foul creatures, which still continued to slowly approach the boy. But these were no ordinary monsters. These were not the standard fare of enemies Link had grown accustomed to facing and quickly disposing of. No other foe, except for maybe Ganondorf himself, had ever filled his entire being with so much primal fear. And so, his mind blanked, making running away from the danger before him his only option.

But Link was trapped. He quickly turned on his heel and ran when he hit a wall, suddenly remembering that he was in a tomb with these monsters. A pit which there was no clear means of escaping. No ladder, no hanging vines, not even any grooves in the archaic stone to desperately grab onto and climb his way out of this nightmare. Adrenaline filled every inch of his body as he panicked, his breathing growing more rapid. Dread took over him as he realized that he was either going to have to face these terrible monsters, or this tomb was going to become his final resting place.

Just as Link whipped back around to see the Redeads closing in on him, one of them emitted another blood-curdling scream. The boy’s body betrayed him yet again as fear took over, immobilizing him. The other two Redeads that were closest to him seized their opportunity to capture their frightened prey as Link gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, trembling as he braced himself for the dreadful onslaught. One of the creatures wrapped its gangly arms and legs around Link and began to viciously ram its huge teeth into the top of the boy’s head in an attempt to begin tearing off flesh to consume. When the other Redead noticed that the boy’s midsection was unoccupied, it bent down, turned its head to the side, unhinged its terrible jaws, and began to bite ravenously. As the two horrid creatures began feasting on their prey, the third Redead continued to belt deafening, horrific wails in an attempt to keep the boy paralyzed for long enough so that it too could eventually begin partaking in their meal.

Link was helpless against the onslaught as he continued to keep his eyes shut as tight as he could. He couldn’t breathe. Tears slid down his face as pure agony and terror coursed through his quivering body. Every bite his predators dealt shot pain coursing through him. He could feel blood begin to trickle down his face as the Redead attempting to eat his brains had punctured through his skin. His abdomen area began to feel damp with saliva as the other creature relentlessly gnawed on his stomach. Link’s mind was numb as he continued to be eaten alive.

As if the onslaught wasn’t brutal enough, the third Redead who had yet to begin feasting on the child let out another long, horrid shriek right before it’s outstretched hands and unhinged jaws lunged for the boy’s face. For a moment, Link snapped out of his petrified state to see the monster lunge at him and, in a panicked and desperate attempt to keep the creatures teeth from tearing his face off, held its head just far enough away so that it couldn’t reach him. Link turned his head to the side, his quivering arms desperately held the creature’s head back as it continued to push against him and gnash its uncomfortably massive, bloodstained teeth. Eager to feast upon the boy’s flesh, the bloodthirsty monster became frustrated with Link’s resistance and let out another agonizingly horrific scream to paralyze its prey.

Links eyes were now open wider than ever, his chest heaving with terror as he saw the thing’s gaping, putrid maw scream directly in his face, it’s beady red eyes piercing into his soul. It felt as if he was staring directly into the face of death itself. In that awful moment, Link felt another surge of adrenaline rush through him, and he realized he had to end this torture. If he didn’t do something now, he’d surely be eaten alive in this tomb. He wouldn’t be able to complete his mission of escorting Medli, the newly awakened Sage, through the temple. He wouldn’t be able to be by Princess Zelda’s side. He wouldn’t be able to ever see Aryll’s sweet smile ever again, or feel comforted by the warm, loving embrace of his dear grandmother. Mustering every ounce of his strength and courage, he managed to wriggle out and break free from his capture, instinctively unsheathed the Master Sword, and swung the blade wildly. Usually, his battle cries were filled with determination. This time, however, they were filled with pure fear and desperation.

After a few moments of panicked slashing, he stopped when he saw all three Redeads had fallen to the ground, defeated. One by one, they eventually vanished in plumes of swirling smoke. Still breathing heavily, Link pressed his back against the cold stone wall and slid down it, thudding onto the floor. He lifted a shaking hand up to assess the damage the monsters had dealt him. He felt a mixture of saliva and blood on his scalp and looked down to see a tear in his tunic, where more blood trickled from the bite marks on his abdomen. He tried to clam down, but instead, he curled himself in a ball and sobbed, his heart still pounding. Never in his entire life had he been so scared.

After allowing himself a moment to release his emotions, he noticed that one of the coffins had a small key inside it. Knowing that it was most likely a necessary tool to progress through the Earth Temple, Link’s quivering legs allowed him to get up and grab the key. When he turned around, he noticed a ladder had seemingly fallen from the ceiling. More relieved than ever, Link let out a long, shaky breath. He ran towards the ladder and climbed his way out of the tomb, reeling from the nightmare he had just endured. He hoped he could gather enough courage back to make it through the rest of the Earth Temple.

[evajellion]

(alright, totk is out now so idc about spoilers)

So were the Gibdos retconned from being undead humans to insects to prevent potential controversy in terms of… potential cannibalism with the cooking system?

Edit: Apparently Darknuts/Iron Knuckles and Stalfos are also not present in TotK despite popular demand, so yeah, it literally is this.

[ask-vio-the-purple-link]

A look to the past {Vio's remorse/ The little Bard}

When he was young Vio had made to many poor choices. And in retrospect this one was the worst, only seconded by that time he'd tried smashing the dark mirror while incognito. But that couldn't be helped, he'd made his choices and now he was stuck here.

Looking at the small village below his eyes show a hint of remorse. After it had just been rebuilt after the burning from Shadow's dragon, but here he was to destroy it yet again. As Vaati found the noise from it a bother. So per his orders Vio had to destroy it, no choice of refusal of course. If Vio didn't do as told the other three and Zelda would be targeted and he wasn't going to have that at all.

Lifting up his currently working hand a flame lit on his fingers and he directed the horde of undead behind him towards it. Taking a breath through the mask he trailed behind them. Two of those flying eyes of Vaati's monitoring his every move. Maybe if he was lucky he can ditch them, and have even just a chance to talk to anybody at all.

It wasn't long until the screams began as the redeads and gibdos attacked the civilians. Causing panic to set in around the village with people running about and just egging on the monsters sent in.

After a bit of going around and acting in ways that wouldn't set off those creatures tailing him Vio finally got away from them. Only to end up following the sound of crying on instinct. Soon enough he comes up on a boy no older than five or six years old at a glance.

Against his better judgement Vio goes over to the little boy, removing his mask to speak. Trying to hurry that way the boy could at least have a future.

"Kiddo you need to get out of here! Hurry!"

After making sure the little boy got out of the village as discreetly as he could Vio sighs. He may get in trouble for this, however it would be worth it. While his hands weren't clean of what happened to the village either time. At least someone got out.

Little did Vio know at the time the young boy would meet him again in the future, marked to learn from him no less

[kitom-kortil]

I dont think yall understand how happy i am about the redeads

[dumpster-lizard]

Some friends from my server helped me envision this so here we go babes:

We all know the gibdos from totk, right?

Clearly inspired by the undead versions from other games, but the game takes an interesting turn by making them a sort of hive insects, with a queen and nests. Which was disappointing at first. Its like they wanted to make them undead (the only hint at this is the "Wrath of the Executed" snippet from a Yiga journal) but didn't want to commit to the more human redead/Gibdo designs from any other zelda game.

Again, disappointing. But not a total loss. Because the thing about hive insects is that their hives are typically full of larvae. And considering the totk redeads still carry some resemblance to corpses... it's not hard to imagine how they reproduce. Berserk has a very similar concept to this, only it's... a bit more disturbing.

I imagine, similar to this, the queen is the only true "insect," and does something to "process" the deceased into new drones. They are cocooned, have something supernatural done to them, and emerge later as fully formed gibdos. The magic involved in theirs and the queens creation is so intricate, that elemental magic can destabilize them. Anything else is useless.

They attack in massive numbers for the express purpose of multiplying. Any casualties are carried off upon retreat.

Also its a shame they dont scream so i think they should sound like cicadas

[readingismyhobby24]

Okay, I have a question: was anyone else absolutely TERRIFIED of the ReDeads in Wind Waker as a child? Because those things literally gave me nightmares 😬 It could just be me but, I'm really curious lol

[vioshortforviolence]

Now that ReDeads are probably in TotK, I wonder what they will be like...

Will they screech like Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker ReDeads??

Are they going to trying and bite Link's head, like in WW, with that incredibly creepy mouth??

(Seriously, that mouth is gross LOL)

They look so infected... these ReDeads are so nasty looking this time lol

I wonder where all we'll encounter them??

I'm excited to see how creepy this game will get!!

I wonder if it'll surpass the Arbiter's Grounds in Twilight Princess... 👀

[theexodvs]

[dragontamer05]

*slams* Nintendo bring back the absolute cursed monstrosities that are Redeads

maybe this time they're shambling creatures reanimated via any lingering malice from Ganon idk. But idk I think they deserve to be resurrected if you will into a new era of Zelda game

[kuteon]

the first time i remember seeing a redead was in wind waker hd so imagine my 10-ish year old self's shock when i fell down a hole in the cabana basement and heard that ear piercing screech

horrifying

[luna-loveboop]

If you ask the chain for their worst/ most annoying enemy

Time: redheads- I mean Redeads

Twilight: *stifling a laugh* Shadow beasts

Four: *deadpan* Gibdos

Legend: *can't think of anything challenging* I'm gonna say, umm... *shoots a teasing glance at Sky* Sleep

Wild: definitely Guardians

Sky: Demon lords with long tongues

Hyrule: *looks at Sky* not even gonna ask about that one, but Octorocks. They're everywhere in my world

Wind: I was gonna say Octorock too! But specifically Big Octo, those are the worst

Warriors: ...

Warriors: SO WHAT AM I THE ONLY ONE WHOS GONNA SAY GANON

[sonocomics]

It's okay Zelda, we're all afraid of Redeads

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[xmascritter]

I would die for her. Non motion blur under the cut