Flute Boy

The Flute Boy is a character in A Link to the Past. His father can be found in the tavern in Kakariko Village and tells Link that his son went off in search of the Golden Power and never returned. When Link visits the Kakariko Village Inn, he is told by the Innkeeper how the Flute Boy had a pet bird who flew with him everywhere and how they went to Death Mountain but never returned. Link sees an apparition of the boy playing the Flute for the woodland animals of the Haunted Grove in the Light World, but the apparition disappears as Link approaches. This happens every time Link enters the Haunted Grove prior to finding the Flute.

Later on when Link enters the Dark World equivalent of the Haunted Grove, he finds the Flute Boy transformed into a strange creature as a result of the Golden Power's effects. The Flute Boy tells Link that he buried his flute with some flower seeds in the Light World's Haunted Grove, says that he wants to see the grove again, and asks Link to search for it. When Link agrees to his request, the Flute Boy then gives him the Shovel so Link can dig it up. After Link finds the Flute and brings it back to him in the Dark World, the Flute Boy says he can't play it anymore, asks him to give it to a tired old man in Kakariko Village, meaning his father, and asks to hear its melody one more time. When Link plays the Flute, the boy petrifies into a tree and his apparitions cease to exist in the Light World.

When Link brings the Flute to the Flute Boy's father, the man understands what has happened to his son and asks Link to keep it. He asks Link to play the Flute in front of the Weathercock in the center of Kakariko Village. When Link proceeds to comply with his request, the Flute Boy's pet bird breaks out of the Weathercock and flies off. Whenever Link plays the Flute in the Light World overworld from that point forward, the pet duck can transport him to one of 8 locations. The Flute is instrumental in reaching the sixth Dark World dungeon, the Misery Mire.

During the game's ending, the Flute Boy is shown back in his normal form, reunited with his father and playing again for the forest creatures in the Haunted Grove after Link reverses Ganon's evil wishes.

Trivia

 * The Flute Boy shares many similarities with the Skull Kid from Ocarina of Time: they both play music with a flute in the woods and disappear when Link approaches them. The Flute Boy may have served as a prototype or concept for Skull Kid.
 * The Deku Butler's Son from Majora's Mask also shares several similarities with the Flute Boy. Both characters have fathers who are concerned for their well-being, and both characters become trees when they pass away.
 * Zeffa is a blue bird that warps Link to any one of the 8 Wind Crests scattered across the overworld, similarly to the Flute Boy's pet duck, when summoned by using the Ocarina of Wind in The Minish Cap.
 * The "flute" the Flute Boy plays is actually an ocarina.