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In the following page, we shall discuss about a relatively little known aspect of The Legend of Zelda franchise. This aspect is the Numerology in The Legend of Zelda Series. Several numbers have subtly played a symbolic role over the course of the series, ranging from a gameplay significance to a storyline-based one. There are various numbers that served this purpose, and each of them will be discussed in this article.

The most notable numbers, as well as their respective roles, are:


 * Two - Duality: The contrast and complementarity between opposite elements.
 * Three - Trinity: A number that represents completion. Arguably the most well-rounded number.
 * Four - Occult: Despair, death; a symbol akin to Eastern culture.
 * Seven - Fortune: A coveted number, akin to Western culture.
 * Eight - Diversity: Shows a further manifestation of completion than number three, and from a broader perspective.

Light and Dark
From A Link to the Past onwards, a commonplace theme in the series is the conflict between opposites. Since several centuries ago, there has been a dimension parallel to the Light World, known as the Dark World. The least subtle differences between these two worlds are easily noticed: Light, good, justice in one world; darkness, evil, crime in the other world. Whereas Link can be aided most of the time by friendly characters in the Light World, he only finds monsters and fierce enemies in the Dark World; and whereas Hyruleans can assume their true forms in the former, those located in the latter can only show the physical manifestation of their emotions. At first, these seem to be the only and most obvious characteristics, but there is actually more than meets the eye.

Namely, in comparison to the Light World, the Dark one frequently aims at a harder edge. It being a counterpart is actually shown at every instance in the game, it's just not as obvious to notice. For example, in the Light World, the two residing Spell Medallions come from the sky after Link reads an incantation from the Book of Mudora; in the Dark World, the Quake Medallion is found in the grounds, as it's possessed by a character living in the Lake of Ill Omen. Also, several places in one world have counterparts in the other that contrast from an elemental perspective. For example, the barren and isolated Desert of Mystery has the wet and rainy Swamp of Evil as its counterpart; the friendly Kakariko Village has the theft-infested Village of Outcasts as its counterpart, and so on.

Past and Future
The light-and-dark treat is shared by other games in the series, such as Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, the former from a age-based perspective, and the latter in a closer way to that in A Link to the Past. In regards of the 1998 title, a very interesting detail is that, once again, the differences aren't limited to a meta scale. The contrasts, in opposition to popular belief, aren't actually based on light and dark; instead, they're based on what we might call symbolic age. The explanation from this is a bit difficult to provide, but it can be started with a dungeon comparison. There may be a reason why Ocarina of Time, unlike the majority of the other games in the series, seeks to replicate the elemental dungeon types seen in the Child age through the Adult age. Between the eras we witness exactly two Forest Dungeons, two Fire Dungeons and two Water Dungeons. In terms of difficulty, the Adult dungeons are significantly superior to the Child dungeons. Gameplay-wise, this may simply be because of the game gradually increasing the challenge factor, but the symbolic reason is more noteworthy: When Link becomes an adult, he has to face greater dangers than when he was a kid. This is reflected by the difficulty of the aforementioned dungeons, as well as that of the enemies and bosses. This difficulty symbolizes the maturity an adult has to develop so that he or she can overcome the deadliest obstacles. The complexity of the Adult dungeons' structure reflects the complexity of the subjects and events Link has to face in the future, in contrast to the earlier dungeons that required less intellectual and physical skills (and thus fit more for Child Link). Compare the simplistic inside of the Deku Tree to the mind-bending twisted architecture of the Forest Temple, or the simplistic digestive tract of a whale to the controversially complex map of the Water Temple, for example.

The rest of the Adult dungeons of Ocarina of Time, at the same time, follow the archetypes of the other role of number two (light and dark) while keeping the past-and-future (or child-and-adult) dichotomy. The Shadow Temple, by all means, is a Shadow Dungeon filled with numerous traps, deceptions and devilish creatures; on the other end of the spectrum, the Spirit Temple opts for a much lighter and relatively more relaxing atmosphere and feel. Both dungeons, in one or another way, revolve both Child Link and Adult Link, putting into practice the aforementioned "symbolic age". Child Link explores the Bottom of the Well and a portion of the Spirit Temple, while Adult Link explores the Shadow Temple and the rest of the Spirit Temple. Once again, the difficulty of these dungeons accomodates to the skills and maturity of each age of Link, which is even pointed out by the scripts of the Spirit Temple's entrance.

Complementarity
In other The Legend of Zelda games, the concept of duality is present more subtly. It doesn't always come as a conflict between elements, or a distance between them; the elements present might actually be separate parts of the same entity. More than one fan of the series might have noticed an interesting case from The Wind Waker. When Link has to look for the Sages who pray for the force of the Master Sword to be held, he has to travel across two temples: The Earth Temple and the Wind Temple. To find each temple, Link has to visit an island suffering from an extreme temperature, infiltrate there to find a treasure, go to the temple's whereabouts to learn a melody that will awaken the descendant of the its former Sage, and bring the new one to the temple to explore it alongside him or her until they reach the hall where they pray takes place. To specify each case:

Over the course of this part of the game, there is a notorious complement between two branches and themes that evolve in a parallel way. The duality extends to other aspects as well, it's just not as obvious as with the aforementioned temples. Namely, two of the Triforce Charts are found with the help of the Power Bracelet (related to the Earth Temple), while other two are found with the help of the Hookshot (related to the Wind Temple). In Ganon's Tower, the Earth and Wind routes are respectively the longest and the shortest, while both the Fire and Forest one have roughly the same length. There are instances where the analogies don't follow suit, but they hardly seek to break the pattern seen in the majority of the cases.

The Wind Waker is not the only title to show this type of duality, and it's not even the first, but it employs the concept to the furthest extent so far. In Majora's Mask, it's not too difficult to detect patterns between Southern Swamp and Snowhead (the places, their dungeons and their surroundings are played analogously), between Great Bay and Ikana Canyon (their anomalies are never fully reverted. Water is still murky after Gyorg is defeated, undead creatures still wander around after Twinmold is defeated), between Southern Swamp and Great Bay (both are humid and tropical ecosystems, and their anomalies are related to water), between Snowhead and Ikana Canyon (both are cold and temperate ecosystems, and their anomalies are related to atmosphere and ambiance), between Snowhead and Great Bay (in both, Link heals dying characters and takes their form; the areas' respective tribes are also friendly despite the tough conditions they're facing) and between Southern Swamp and Ikana Canyon (the tribes are harsher against foreign people at first). Of course, Majora's Mask is more known for its representation of number four rather than number two, which will be discussed two sections below.

Even in a game as early as The Adventure of Link, analogies and patterns can be appreciated as well. In each of the two main continents portraying Hyrule in this game (West Hyrule and East Hyrule) there are two Heart Containers and two Magic Containers to collect, four towns to visit, four Spells and one sword technique to learn, and four items to collect (of which three are Dungeon Items).

Three - Trinity
Of all numbers significantly represented in the series, number three seems to be the most canonically important. From a religious perspective, for one, the main source of divine power is the Triforce. According to legend, it is the last legacy from the Golden Goddesses left to the land of mortals. Each fragment of this relic represents a Goddess, who in turn represents one of the major attributes of the living beings. Before going into detail with this, it's worth mentioning that, in a nearly unlimited amount of aspects, these attributes are carried over the entire World of The Legend of Zelda; from elementally basic ecosystems to the unique characteristics of the diverse races inhabiting the world.

More than one fan of the series has notices that, in various The Legend of Zelda games, the Master Sword is gained after collecting first three relics. Said objects are the Pendants of Virtue in A Link to the Past, the Spiritual Stones in Ocarina of Time, the Goddess Pearls in The Wind Waker, the Fused Shadows in Twilight Princess and, in the case of the Phantom Sword in Phantom Hourglass, the Pure Metals. Whereas the most cynical players argue that Nintendo is just recycling ideas across the games, others have gone further to notice the extent of the trinity's influence.

The first and most basic aspect is the chromatic identity of each element: red, green and blue. Players may know this already, but these colors are the primary compounds of the white light; therefore, it's completely logical that these colors were chosen to represent the virtues of the Triforce: It is, after all, the source of divine light. Only a living being with a balance between power, courage and wisdom can obtain the Triforce at once when entering the Sacred Realm. The light of this Triforce will scatter before someone who believes the most in only one of the virtues, his or her heart acts like a prism of sorts.

One might ask: Why courage is associated with forests, power is with fire, and wisdom is with water? It's fairly difficult to properly interpret an answer, but it may be because these elements and environments, synesthetically, fit the virtues the best. As an example, the forests are often a big and wild ecosystem; venturing into them requires courage and determination from the common living being, and the fact that Link is in several games raised within one (or a similar ecosystem, such as a grove or a plain), as well as the fact that he's dressed green most of the time, indicates that he's destined to be a courageous hero. Courage is literally his avatar. In regards of other living beings, forests synesthetically symbolize peace, harmony, friendship, innocence and playfulness. The Kokiris and Koroks, the Deku Scrubs, even the monkeys, .... they're living proofs of these attributes. To take this to an even further extent, Forest Dungeons are comparatively easier than most of the other elemental dungeon types; they do not seek to extensively challenge the venturers, but simply to motivte them to develop their physical and intellectual skills so that later hardships can be faced more easily. Forest, as an element, represents courage because it's friendly and inviting to us.

Analogously, we can notice the relationship between fire and power, as well as between water and wisdom. The former, for one, represents the next phase for those who left the friendly forests that saw them grow up. Fire synesthetically represents lust, competitivity, brute force. The dangers of fire and playing carelessly with it symbolize the dangers of not being able to have under control our lowest instincts. All of us have a dark side, the key is to control it so that it serves to us, not the other way around. The Gorons are a signature representation of power, and Fire Dungeons seek to test the venturers' strength and endurance. Water, likewise, symbolizes wisdom in various different ways. Knowledge is vital for survival, just like water is; the fluidity of this basic liquid symbolizes the knowledge being passed down across the generations; much like clean water is able to reflect our faces, knowledge is projected from us to our surroundings. Water and wisdom can both be very difficult to master, which is reflected with the high difficulty of the Water Dungeons. Only those paying attention to their surroundings and examining each situation will be able to conquer the greatest challenges of life. Water also symbolizes love (notice that, in several 3D games, a reasonable amount of Pieces of Heart are found in water areas; Great Bay in Majora's Mask has 10 Pieces, the total between Zora's River, Zora's Domain, Zora's Fountain and Lake Hylia in Ocarina of Time is 11; the number of sunken Pieces in The Wind Waker is 11 as well), royalty, responsibility, diligence, beauty and maturity.

Why, then, three is such an important number for the series? Because it represents a balance between contrasting elements and virtues. The Master Sword can only be earned once the Chosen Hero gains the benefits of the three avatars. Three represents the end of a cycle and the start of another, it represents preparation. With the courage brought from the forests, it is possible to face the horrors, deceptions and calamities of element shadow, which is accompained by a permanent atmosphere of darkness, loneliness, and death. With the power brought from the fire, it is possible to overcome the harshest conditions of the deserts, where the mainstream companions are dryness, scarcity, and weakness. With the wisdom drunk from the water, it is possible to find and master the light, with which one can finally bring peace to a world invaded by the evil forces.