Malon

Malon is a recurring character in the, first introduced in Ocarina of Time. In the majority of games she has appeared in, she is the daughter of the rancher Talon, who owns Lon Lon Ranch. Although she has made appearances in other Zelda games, her character has never been developed as much as in Ocarina of Time, which is also the only game in which Malon appears as an adult.

Portrayed as a kind-hearted and responsible girl, Malon is often seen taking care of Epona, one of the ranch's horses. She also enjoys singing, specifically "Epona's Song," as seen in Ocarina of Time and The Minish Cap.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, Malon is a young girl who loves to sing outside the Hyrule Castle's walls at night. She, along with Ingo, takes care of most of the duties at the ranch due to her father's laziness. Link first meets Malon, who calls him "Fairy Boy", in the Hyrule Castle Market where she was looking for her father. After Link finds Talon asleep and wakes him up using the Cucco that hatched from the Weird Egg Malon gave him, Malon returns to Lon Lon Ranch with her father. When Link goes visit her at the ranch, she introduces him to a young horse named Epona and teaches the young hero "Epona's Song," a song Malon's mother had composed.

Seven years later, when Link returns to the ranch, he finds out that Ingo had exiled Talon and taken over the ranch. Malon was working for him out of fear of how the animals would be treated if she disobeys his orders. Moreover, since Ingo was planning to give Epona as a present to Ganondorf, Malon was the only one who could tame her. Link then challenges Ingo to a race and defeats him, using Epona to escape from the ranch. Next time Link enters the ranch, he will find Malon has regained control and Ingo has gone back to being "a normal, nice person". Malon tells Link that she had recognized him but wasn't sure until he told her his name. After the ranch girl tells Link how things went back to normal, she thanks the young hero for all his help. As a mini-game, Malon lets him race around the ranch to compete against her best time. When he's able to beat her time, she rewards him by sending a cow to his house in Kokiri Forest, which may be used as a reliable and free source of Lon Lon Milk.

With the Mask of Truth, Link can learn from the Gossip Stones that Malon dreams for a knight to take her away. A Gossip Stone in front of the Temple of Time also says that Malon was the original record holder of the Lon Lon Ranch obstacle course, her record being 50 seconds.

Ocarina of Time is the only game in which Malon's mother is mentioned. She is most likely dead by the time of the events of Ocarina of Time, but it is clear she had a great influence on Malon and the others on the ranch. She's the one who composed "Epona's Song," which is said to be liked by everyone on the farm. Talking to Talon while wearing the Gerudo Mask or the Goron Mask causes him to say that it reminds him of his wife, but he quickly retracts that statement.

Oracle of Seasons
Malon plays a small role in the trading sequence in Oracle of Seasons. She lives with her father Talon north of Horon Village, where the two raise Cuccos. When Link first meets her, Talon has gone to climb Mt. Cucco and has left Malon to raise the Cuccos by herself; however, she confesses to the young hero that she does not know much about the hens. Link can help her by giving her the Cuccodex, an information database of Cuccos, in exchange for a Lon Lon Egg. In this game, Malon lives in Holodrum and the concept art depicts her with rounded ears.

Four Swords Adventures
Malon appears in Four Swords Adventures on Near the Fields' first stage, The Field. Upon arriving to the field, the Links encounter Malon standing by herself. She tells the young travelers that she was running errands, but just as she was about to head back to her home, it started raining; furthermore, the Castle Guards were moving all the cannons and even aimed their bows at the farm girl. Helpless, Malon asks the four Links if she can accompany them until she gets back to Lon Lon Ranch with her father, Talon. During their travel, Malon can be killed by the Castle Guards, as she has only one Heart Container. Once the Links return her safely to the ranch, she admits that at first she was not sure she could count on them, but soon realized her mistake and acknowledges the Links as "real heroes."

The Minish Cap
Malon makes a small appearance in The Minish Cap. Talon and she were locked out of their house, but Link can help them by using Ezlo's power to go into the house and find the spare key, which is inside a pot. Malon thanks Link for his help, and later on in the game, she can be be found in Hyrule Town selling Lon Lon Milk for 100 Rupees alongside a horse that looks like Epona.

When Link speaks to Malon, she will briefly sing "Epona's Song."

Development
In an Ocarina of Time developer's interview posted on Shigesato Itoi's website, 1101.com, script writer Toru Osawa says that Talon and Malon in Ocarina of Time are based on Tarin and Marin in Link's Awakening and it is intended that players who have played the previous game will recognize the reference.

In the same interview, Shigeru Miyamoto says that Malon being a songstress is inspired by his love of country music, including people like Emmylou Harris.

Trivia

 * Malon is based off of Marin from Link's Awakening, who is in turn seems to be based off of Princess Zelda. This would make Malon indirectly based on Princess Zelda.
 * The symbols on the bottom of her dress spell "Lon" in Hylian.
 * Both Malon and Talon wear "Bowser Medallions".
 * In the manga, Malon ends up calling Link "Mr. Hero" instead of "Fairy Boy".
 * Some fans have interpreted a romantic relationship between Link and Malon.
 * Malon had two equivalent characters in Majora's Mask, Romani and Cremia, two sisters who look similar to Malon, one young and one old.
 * During the night theme in Twilight Princess, a voice similar to Malon's sings. This also happens in Ikana Canyon's theme in Majora's Mask.
 * Malon shares similarities with Ilia, who is also the caretaker of Epona in Twilight Princess. They also both lives near or on a farm with their father, as well as they both teach Link how to play Epona's Song.
 * Malo's name, from Twilight Princess, might be a reference to Malon, along with his brother's name Talo which might be a reference to Talon.