Average Middle-Aged Man
The Average Middle-Aged Man is a character in A Link to the Past.[1]
Biography
The man is a former Thief who specialized in picking locks who now lives at the entrance of the Desert of Mystery under the guise of being a ordinary man in silent meditation, sitting by a sign that tells people to leave him be. If Link picks up or slices his Sign, the man will break his silence and follow Link until he leaves the area.[2]
After hearing about the "average" man from a former thief located in a cave near the Ice Palace or from a Thief in the Lost Woods,[3][4] Link can return to him with the Locked Chest found in the Village of Outcasts. The man offers to open the Chest for Link in exchange for him not telling anyone about his true identity.[5] He gives Link the Magic Bottle that was inside in exchange for Link's silence. Afterwards, he will not care whether or not his sign is taken by Link.[6]
Trivia
- The man asking Link to keep his identity a "secret from everyone" is a reference to the famous quote from The Legend of Zelda.
- During the ending credits, the man can be seen back to his old ways trying to pick locks in the Desert of Mystery.
Nomenclature
 Names in Other Regions 
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Meaning | |
 |
EnglishUK | Average guy 
| |
 |
Japanese | へんなおじさん (Hen-na Ojisan) | Strange Old Guy |
 |
FrenchEU | Vieil original | Old eccentric |
 |
German | Irgendwer | Somebody |
 |
Italian | Uomo comune | Common man |
 |
SpanishEU | Tipo de los más normal | Really normal guy |
References
- ↑ Art & Artifacts, Dark Horse Books, pg. 388 (ALttP)
- ↑ "Why did you take my sign? It says plain as day to just leave me alone! Sheeesh!" — Average Middle-Aged Man (A Link to the Past)
- ↑ "Heh heh. Thank you. To tell you the truth, I used to be a thief in the Light World... some of my fellow thieves went into hiding because they were afraid of being caught. One of them was a master locksmith, but now he is hiding the fact that he was a thief... by pretending to be a strange middle-aged guy! Ha ha ha..." — Storyteller (A Link to the Past)
- ↑ "Hey kid, this is a secret hide-out for a gang of thieves! Don't enter without permission! By the way, I heard that one of our ex-members is staying at the entrance to the desert." — Storyteller (A Link to the Past)
- ↑ "I heard that you know I used to be a thief, right? Well, I'll open a chest for you. Will you keep it secret from everyone else? Would you please promise?" — Average Middle-Aged Man (A Link to the Past)
- ↑ "Remember, you promised... Don't tell to anyone." — Average Middle-Aged Man (A Link to the Past)