Talon

Talon in Ocarina of Time.
Talon
Species	Hylian (OoT, TMC) Human (OoS, FSA)
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Malon (daughter)
Debut	Ocarina of Time

Talon is a recurring character from the Zelda series. Across all incarnations, he is the owner of Lon Lon Ranch and has a daughter named Malon. He is often characterized as being lazy and somewhat bumbling, but good-hearted.

Background

Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, Talon was first seen napping outside Hyrule Castle after making another shipment of milk. Link was able to wake him up with the aid of a Cucco. Talon thenreturned to the ranch with Malon. Whenever Link visited the ranch, Talon would let him play a Super Cucco-collecting minigame, with a bottle of milk as a prize.

During the seven years that Ganondorf came into power in Hyrule, Lon Lon Ranch was taken over by Ingo, the disgruntled ranch hand. Ingo kicked Talon out of the ranch, and Talon was forced to live alone in Kakariko Village, where he worried about Malon. Link later woke him up from another nap with a Pocket Cucco, and he told Link about his troubles. Link was able to defeat Ingo, and Talon rushed back to Lon Lon Ranch. With the ranch back under his leadership, he threw a party celebrating Ganondorf's defeat in the ending. Talon and Ingo were seen drunkenly dancing together.

Other Games

Talon and Malon lived in a house north of Horon Village in Holodrum in Oracle of Seasons. Talon left home to climb Mt. Cucco, but he had to wait for winter to come around since the seasons had been thrown into disorder. He fell asleep while taking shelter in a cave, until Link came to wake him up with a Megaphone. Talon woke with a start and realized he had to hurry home. He thanked Link by giving him a Mushroom.

Talon also appeared in Four Swords Adventures. When the Links safely escorted Malon back to the ranch, Talon thanked them by offering to let the travelers use the ranch's horses and the items in their cellars.

In The Minish Cap, Talon had locked himself and Malon out of their own house, until Link found their spare key and brought it to them. Talon then allowed Link to pass through his house, which was essential to reach Lake Hylia.

Trivia

• He is based on the character Tarin from Link's Awakening. Their names being even more similar in Japanese, where l's and r's are interchangeable. According to the Hyrule Historia, Tarin and Marin's existences in the dream world may have been created from Link's memories of Talon and Malon.
• Both Tarin and Talon are modeled to resemble Mario, and this is occasionally hinted at with some of the things he wears. In Ocarina of Time, he and Malon both wear golden emblems in the shape of Bowser's face, and Talon's official artwork for Oracle of Seasons has him wearing a hat that has a red M logo on it, the exact some logo that is found on Mario's own hat.
• The design for Mario's father in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is identical to Talon, although the directors have stated that the design is based directly on Nintendo's unused design for Mario's father. It is unclear if Talon's design was also based on that design.
• In Ocarina of Time, if Talon is approached while wearing a Goron or Gerudo Mask, Talon will briefly comment that the mask reminds him of his wife, only to immediately amend that it does not really look like her at all. That is the only mention he makes of his wife, who never appears and whose status is unknown.
• Talon's Terminan counterpart is a bartender named Barten. Although not of blood relation to Romani or Cremia (Malon's Terminan counterparts), Barten is on good terms with Cremia due to receiving milk shipments from her ranch.
• There is also an unnamed Milk Bar Owner at Kakariko Village in A Link Between Worlds who looks like Talon and Barten, with elements of both. He wears red like Talon, and he has the same occupation as Barten.
• Twilight Princess has a pair of characters named Talo and Malo whose names are similar to Talon and Malon, yet aside from the similar names, they share no connection or similarities.