495 Words About: Bug Collecting in Twilight Princess
Once Link has killed all of the shadow-insects which have stolen the light from Hyrule Castle town he can explore the city, and near the gates there’s a young woman who looks like she stepped out of an anime convention. She wears a gothic-style dress, keeps her hair in pigtails, and three fuschia butterflies adorn her poofy dress. Her name is Agitha, she lives in a castle, and has invited the “Golden Bugs” to her ball. The plot thickens as she reveals to Link that none of them have arrived and she would like his help to find all 24 of them. There’s 12 pairs, a male and female of each species, scattered around Hyrule.
My Dad was an exterminator and had literal stacks of reference books about insects I would spend hours studying. You’d suppose then collecting bugs would have been my first priority in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I admit with some shame that I never finished this particular side quest. I was too busy killing bokoblins on horseback to bother collecting bugs.
I believe, if my memory serves true, I only ever collected 14 of the total, and that was only because they were in my path as I wandered Hyrule.
Side-Quests in any Legend of Zelda videogame typically serve two functions: they allow the player to explore Hyrule and become familiar with the landscape, and/or they bring rewards usually in the form of items, rupees, or both. Like the gold skulltula side-quest in Ocarina of Time, Link has to explore the forests, caves, plains, and dungeons of Hyrule to find the Golden bugs, and all of this exploration will mean plenty of opportunities to stumble across areas of Hyrule the player normally wouldn’t have if they simply followed the main plot.
I’ll be perfectly honest, I love this side quest because not enough games, outside of the Animal Crossing franchise, are about catching bugs. Or, at least, not killing bugs.
Insects in videogames have typically been enemy npcs, the Varkids in Borderlands being a perfect example. They’re portrayed as revolting “others” that are either trying to kill the player, or else feed off of decay and misery. In reality insects do contribute to the festering process, but the implied malevolence is more rooted in videogame design than biological reality.
Agitha’s side-quest is fun, not simply because it affords the player opportunities to explore Hyrule, but because the game gives an impression of insects that’s positive and, frankly, beautiful. Returning to her castle will bring me rewards(notably a larger wallet), but I’ll also see the crickets, beetles, walking-sticks, snails, phasmids, and butterflies of pure light dancing around the room. Agatha celebrates these creatures because she sees the beauty of them, and I in turn find a beauty in celebrating life. This side-quest is about building a part of Hyrule rather than destroying it, and ultimately isn’t that the reason Link is on this quest in the first place?
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
11.4.2024
Like what you’re reading? Buy me a coffee & support my Patreon. Please and thank you.