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. 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 (his father), and asks to hear its melody one more time. When Link plays the Flute, the boy petrifies into a tree.

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 bird 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.

Link learns the following about the Flute Boy:


 * 1) The Flute Boy's father tells Link about him leaving to look for the Golden Power how he hasn't returned.
 * 2) Upon Link's second visit of the Man With the Overgrown Yard, he is told how the Flute Boy had a pet bird who flew with him everywhere & how they went to Death Mountain but never returned.
 * 3) After Link finds the Flute, he can simultaneously see both the Flute in the present time lying on the ground just as he digs it up while at the same time the Flute Boy's apparition is playing it. Link must stand at the right spot to see this.
 * 4) The apparition of the Flute Boy is a repeating loop of past events as indicated by whenever Link sees the Flute Boy's apparition, he is presently in the Dark World and also indicated by the repetition of the apparition every time Link entered the grove.
 * 5) The apparition permanently ceases once Link gets the Flute and approaches the Flute Boy in the Light World for the last time. After that, the apparition is never seen again.

Trivia

 * The Flute Boy shares many similarity to 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.