Tarin

Tarin
Species	Human
Hair color	Brown
Relatives	Marin (daughter)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Tarin is a supporting character appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Background

Tarin lived within Mabe Village on Koholint Island with his daughter Marin. He was somewhat lazy and would often spend his time sleeping, although he was also known to go out to pick mushrooms. It was he who assured Marin that there was nothing else in the world beyond the island. After Link crashed on the island and was discovered by Marin, Tarin gave him shelter in his home and held onto his shield until he woke up, then returning his shield to him as he introduced himself.

He later traveled into the Mysterious Woods to pick mushrooms and was transformed into a raccoon after eating one. In this form, he would use his power to cause Link to become lost in the forest. Tarin could be returned to normal by sprinkling him with Magic Powder, at which point he would return home to nap. Tarin had several other appearances in the game. During the trading sidequest, he could be found by a beehive and would ask to use Link's stick to shake the beehive. This resulted in Tarin being chased away by bees, while Link was able to claim the Honeycomb. He was then seen napping at his home while remarking that he has lost his taste for honey. In the Game Boy Color version, Tarin also appeared for the photo-op in front of the rooster statue in Koholint Village with Link and Marin.

Tarin later appeared after Link saves Marin at the Tal Tal Mountains and called her back to the village. Due to the island existing only as part of the Wind Fish's dream, Tarin disappeared from existence with the rest of the island once the Wind Fish was awakened. In his last moments, he was seen discovering another mushroom in the woods.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Tarin appeared in the manga adaptation of Link's Awakening.

Trivia

• His appearance is based on Mario, with his eating mushrooms and turning into a raccoon being references to Mario's power-ups in the games.
• Although Tarin has not reappeared, the character of Talon who is heavily based on Tarin was reintroduced in his place in Ocarina of Time, with Malon as his daughter instead of Marin. According to the Hyrule Historia, Tarin and Marin's existence in the dream world may have been created from Link's memories of Talon and Malon.
• Tarin does not clearly remember his time as a raccon and chalks it up to having been a dream.