
                              THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

               //  ||  ||      |\     /\
               /  /   |  |   |  |      | |\ |   / /\ \
                 /  /    |   |  |  |      | |  | |  | |  | |
                /  /     |  |   |  |      | |  / |  |    |
               /   /  |   |  |   |  |   /   | || |
                                    
                              A LINK TO THE PAST
                         GHOST OF THE MISERY MIRE FAQ

                                 Version 1.2

                            By Tempest of Shadows
                               thoul@vgws.com


   TABLE OF CONTENTS   


A. Updates
B. Legal Jazz
C. Introduction
D. Items Needed to Start
E. Steps
F. Problems
H. Experiments and Theories
I. Other Discoverers
J. Supplemental Information
K. Contact Info



   SECTION A: UPDATES   


The most recent version of this document is available on my personal website.
Check the Legal Jazz section of this document for more information.

12/31/2001 - Version 1.2

  Added Other Discoverers section, moved a little content from Supplemental
  Information to that section.  Renamed the Theories section to Experiments
  and Theories.  Added Mr Man's discovery/thoughts to that section, also. 

12/18/2001 - Version 1.1

  Added David Duvenaud's theory.

12/18/2001 - Version 1.0

  The first text-only version of this information, and first release of this
  file.  The file is complete, unless readers send me more information.



   SECTION B: LEGAL JAZZ   


This document is  2001 Jeremy Rogers (aka Tempest of Shadows), all rights
reserved.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past belongs to Nintendo.  I'm not going to
bother looking up their copyright information, because I'm sure you can find it
if you really want to do so.

As of this version, the only sites that have permission to post this document
are the following:

My personal site: http://www.cyborg-central.com/~pd/
GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com

That's it; no one else can post this document without asking for my permission
first.  If you do want to post this document on another site, feel free to
ask; in most cases, I'll grant permission as long as the document is kept
intact. Please provide the address of the site you want to post the document
on when asking, though.

The most recent version of this document is available on my site, in either
the "Jazz" or "Zelda" section, depending on which section exists.  This site
is on a server that does not have a permanent connection as of this writing,
so if you try to go to the site and see some sort of "not available" message,
try again at another time of day.



   SECTION C: INTRODUCTION   


The first thing you're wondering is probably: What is the Ghost of the Misery
Mire?  That's a good question, because chances are most people that find this 
document have never heard of it.  The Misery Mire should be well known to A 
Link to the Past players; it's the wet, swampy, rainy, portion of the Dark 
World in which the sixth dungeon can be found.

The Ghost is an invisible enemy in A Link to the Past that I discovered by 
accident one day in late 1992/early 1993.  To my knowledge, I was the first to 
discover this strange occurrence and the first to document it.  This file is in
fact a text-only rewording of information that has been available on my website 
for quite some time, and I'm mainly making this file because I could find no 
documentation about the Ghost on GameFAQs as of this writing.

So, how did I happen to stumble on this Ghost?  Quite accidentally, I assure 
you.  One day I was frustrated about having problems I was having in advancing 
in the game.  I don't recall what exactly, but it doesn't matter.  So, being 
frustrated, I was randomly slashing at air with Link's sword when I hit the 
sound of hitting an enemy came from the game.

I immediately noticed a few problems with that.  First, there weren't any 
enemies on the screen.  Second, I was in a part of the Misery Mire that 
normally has no enemies present at all.  Considering these facts, I decided to 
investigate the strange happening.  A series of experiments, some successful, 
some not, followed.  Some of the results are mentioned in the Experiments and
Theories section.

At one point, shortly after discovering the Ghost, I wrote a letter to Nintendo
of America's Game Counselors.  The question of exactly what the Ghost is was 
one of several things discussed in the correspondence.  The Counselor that 
replied to my letter confirmed the existence of the creature (not yet dubbed 
the Ghost), but seemed to have no knowledge of it before that point.  The 
theory put forth by the Counselor will be mentioned in the Theories section of 
this document.



   SECTION D: ITEMS NEEDED TO START   


This section lists the various items needed to find the Ghost of the Misery 
Mire or to reproduce my experiments in finding the Ghost.  I'm not going to 
give you detailed instructions on how to find these items, as those are 
available in various walkthroughs on http://www.gamefaqs.com/.

Bare Essentials: These are the minimum items needed to find the Ghost.

Flute, Duck, Titan's Mitt, Sword

Easy Way: These are needed for the _quickest_ method of finding the Ghost.

Flute, Duck, Titan's Mitt, Sword, Bombos medallion, ability to use magic

The Experiments: These are needed to reproduce some of my experiments.

Flute, Duck, Titan's Mitt, Sword, Hookshot, ability to use magic, any weapon or
item capable of damaging enemies

You may also need the Magic Mirror in all of these cases, but you should 
already have that if you have the listed items.  If you have the above items, 
you're ready to go ghost busting!



   SECTION E: STEPS   


The following steps are the easiest and quickest way of finding the Ghost of
the Misery Mire.  To complete these steps, you'll need everything listed under
the "Easy Way" in the previous section.  Also, if you've never used the Bombos
medallion in the game (quite possible, as it has no required use), go find some
normal enemies and use it on them.  When you do, pay attention to the pillar of
flames that spring up on the enemies before they die; that's important to these
steps.  You may also want to bring along the Ether Medallion, if you haven't 
already used it to shut off the rain in the Misery Mire.


Step 1:
If you are not already in the Light World (aka the starting world), use the
Magic Mirror and go there.  In the Light World, use the Flute to call the Duck,
and have the Duck drop you off at map point number 6, which is in the lower
left hand corner of the map screen you'll be shown.  The duck will drop you off
at the bottom left corner of the Desert of Mystery.


Step 2:
There's two rocks on this raised area Link is standing on.  Lift them (that 
requires the Titan's Mitt) and throw them away.  Under one of the rocks, you'll
find a Dark World Transporter.  Step onto the transporter to be taken to the 
Misery Mire.

Step 3:
Link appears on a corresponding ledge in the Dark World.  Jump down from here,
and you'll be very close to the Ghost.  

Now, if you've never been to the Misery Mire in your current game, it's going
to be raining here, and you'll have a hard time seeing anything that you'll be
doing in a moment.  If you have the Ether Medallion, head up to the dungeon and
use that medallion to stop the rain.  Then head back down toward that ledge.

Now, regardless of whether you had to stop the rain or not, equip the Bombos 
Medallion.  You might want to select Bombos before you step on the Dark World 
Transporter in step two, as I typically did.

Step 4:
This step is very simple: use the Bombos Medallion.  You only have to do this 
once.  Now get ready, because after the multiple explosions animation, the last
step will take place.

Step 5:
You've done all the work, so now it's time to just watch.  After the explosions
of Bombos are finished, all enemies on the screen will burst into flame.  Is 
there a pillar of flame on your screen that doesn't appear to be burning any 
enemy?  If so, congratulations, you've just found the Ghost of the Misery Mire!

What's your reward for this discovery?  Bombs.  Yup, the Ghost drops a varying
number of Bombs (anywhere between 1 and 8 at a time) when defeated.


What's that you say?  There wasn't a pillar of flame on your screen?  In that 
case, you've probably experienced one of two known problems.  The first of them
is that the Ghost, like most enemies, can move around the screen.  Return to 
the Light World via the Magic Mirror, and reenter the Dark World using the 
small portal the Mirror leaves behind.  Now repeat steps 4 and 5.  You should 
see the Ghost then.

Still no Ghost?  Read the Problems section of this document!


For those that did find the Ghost after running through the steps, know that 
you can repeat this process as many times as you want.  The Ghost will respawn
each time you leave the Dark World and return, so make handy use of that Magic
Mirror!



   SECTION F: PROBLEMS   


There are only two known problems with finding the Ghost of the Misery Mire.  
The first is quite simple: the Ghost moves around the screen, just like any 
other enemy!  If you didn't find the Ghost on the first try, give it another 
shot as instructed in the Steps section, and you'll likely have better results.

The second problem may, ironically, be my fault!  The most likely theory about
the Ghost's existence is that it is some kind of bug in the game.  If that is
true, then Nintendo may have had it removed from later versions of the game.  A
Link to the Past was eventually re-released as part of Nintendo's Player's 
Choice line (aka "these games sold _really_ good, so here's some more of 
them").  There has been a report or two that someone wasn't able to find the 
Ghost in one of [a n t i t h e f t - t h o u l a t v g w s d o t c o m] these 
Player's Choice games .  My personal copy of A Link to the Past was the _very_
first purchased from my local Wal-Mart when the game was first released.  
Nintendo might have removed the Ghost from the game after learning about it 
from my letter to the Game Counselors.  Wouldn't that be a real kick in the 
pants?

In the case of the second problem, there's probably no hope of finding the 
Ghost on your game.  Try to find a non-Player's Choice version of A Link to the
Past, and you might find the Ghost on it.  I know for a fact that there's a ROM
of A Link to the Past on the internet that does have the Ghost in the game.



   SECTION G: EXPERIMENTS AND THEORIES   


My experiments on the Ghost actually revealed very little information.  I know
that it can move, and that hitting it with Link's sword can cause a knockback 
effect that moves the Ghost away.  It can be killed with any weapon (Bombos is 
simply the fastest, most convenient way to reveal the Ghost's location).  No 
weapon, to my knowledge, will reveal the Ghost's identity.

The most interesting of my experiments was an occasional result of using the
Hookshot on the Ghost.  Sometimes, the Hookshot will hit and damage the Ghost
like any normal enemy.  At other times, however, the Hookshot will hit without
doing damage!  Instead, you will hear the sound made when the Hookshot hits a
wall.  This suggests that the Ghost is armored on at least one side, like a
Darknut from The Legend of Zelda. 


So what, exactly, is this strange thing I've called the Ghost of the Misery 
Mire?  There are several theories that have been presented over the years.  
Here are the ones of which I have been made aware, and my thoughts on them.

1) It's just a game bug or glitch!
This, actually, is one of my own theories. :)  It is the simplest explanation, 
and that makes it the most likely, right?  There is one problem with this 
explanation, however: the Ghost is _armored_.  Why would a bug have armor?

2) It's one of the Mud Men that live in the sands of the Desert of Mystery.
This theory was put forth by the Game Counselor who responded to my letter to 
Nintendo back in 1993.  The Mud Men, for those not familiar with them, are 
mud/sand-like creatures that rise up out of the desert sands in the Desert.

Personally, I don't see how that would be possible, but I can't completely rule
it out.  Also, to my knowledge, Mud Men don't make the armored sound when hit 
with the Hookshot on any specific body part.

3) It's one of the worm enemies that come out of the water in the Misery Mire.
I received this theory via email quite some time ago, so I don't have any idea 
of who is was from now.  If the Ghost only appeared in the water area of the 
Misery Mire, I might be inclined to consider it the most likely explanation.  
However, this theory is easily rebutted.  The Ghost will sometimes appear on 
the dry land near the bottom of the Misery Mire.  Those worm enemies are 
restricted to the water; they don't go anywhere near some of these places that 
the Ghost can travel on.  If the Ghost was a worm, it would also be restricted 
to the water.  Since the Ghost can go on the dry land, this theory cannot be 
true.

4) David Duvenaud wrote in with this theory:
 
 "I bet it is [a] sprite made [specifically] for that map, but the artists
 never linked the sprites to it or something. As in, someone forgot to say
 which image files that creature used, so by default it was invisible. Or maybe
 someone put a light world creature in, but the game only loads the darkworld
 tile set when it's in the darkworld. So it couldn't access it's image files."

That sounds like a pretty sound theory to me. It could go along nicely with
the Game Counselor's theory, too.

5) Mr Man, who also discovered the Ghost, wrote in with this information:

 "I have no real theory about what it is, except that I have noticed something
 strange.  When I was killing the ghost with my sword, I noticed that the bombs
 that it dropped appeared a long ways away from me, and to the side, even
 though it was 90 degrees from where I was attacking.  This leads me to
 [believe] that it is some long enemy that can only be hit at the tale, and
 drops the bombs at its head."

That belief also seems very sound.  The Ghost could be something like the small
Moldorms seen in many dungeons of the game, as they behave in a very similar
manner.


Got another theory or more information?  Send it to me, and I'll be glad to add
it to this section!



   SECTION H: OTHER DISCOVERERS   


I know that I'm not the only person to find the Ghost on my own.  Here's a list
of some other people that have discovered the Ghost:

Mr Man

If anyone else that reads this documentation has discovered the Ghost on your
own, feel free to write in and have your name added to this list.



   SECTION I: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION   


The original version of this documentation, in HTML format, is available at my 
personal website, listed below.  The HTML version also includes screenshots of 
the steps for discovering the Ghost.  This text-only version is actually much 
more complete, as the HTML version focuses on the steps of finding the Ghost.

http://www.cyborg-central.com/~pd/



   SECTION J: CONTACT INFO   


If you have information to contribute to this document about anything I have
missed or made a mistake on, feel free to inform me at thoul@vgws.com. I
welcome any constructive comments that will improve this document or any future
FAQs I might construct.