I present to you: a huge flowchart showing all of the confirmed (and some of the speculated) influences on the first Legend of Zelda title. And then, for good measure, 5000 years of those influences’ influences. See below for a list of citations demonstrating all of these connections!
Useful links:
This will be a work in progress; I’ll add details as I learn them. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me in the comments here if you have anything to add or any corrections to make!
Update 8/17/2026:
Added Pac-Land as an influence on Super Mario Bros. Re-added missing link between Black Onyx and Zelda 1.
Update 8/10/2026:
Big redesign! About doubled the number of influences in the chart. Added Conan and all it’s influences. Added shmups and early video games. Added some manga and additional Japanese film info. Added some intermediate steps between Chainmail and D&D. Added Star Wars.
Special thanks to Cosmo, Spritecell, cara do fusca, and Kate Willaert for their helpful corrections and suggestions!
Citations:
- Super Mario Bros. <-> The Legend of Zelda:
- Indiana Jones -> Zelda:
- Ultima and Black Onyx -> Zelda
- Peter Pan -> Zelda
- Alakazam the Great -> Zelda
- Donkey Kong -> Mario Bros
- Excitebike and Kung Fu -> Super Mario Bros
- Popeye -> Donkey Kong
- Wheel on Meals -> Kung-fu Master
- Retro Gamer #140
- Game of Death -> Kung-fu Master
- Moon Patrol -> Kung-fu Master
- (Same creator, similar scrolling technology)
- Wuxia genre -> Hong Kong Martial Arts films
- Chute & Lim, (2003) pulled from Wikipedia
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin -> Wuxia
- Teo, Stephen (2009). Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition (Pulled from wikipedia)
- Alakazam the Great -> Super Mario Bros.
- Journey to the West -> Alakazam the Great
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons
- Records of the Western Regions -> Journey to the West
- Pulp adventure influence on Indiana Jones
- Akalabeth -> Ultima
- DeMaria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2004). High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. (From wikipedia)
- D&D and Escape -> Akalabeth
- King, Brad; Borland, John M. (2003). Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic (from Wikipedia)
- Ultima and Wizardry -> Black Onyx
- Hydlide -> Zelda
- Xanadu -> Zelda
- Speculative. Based on the fact that Xanadu was one of a very few games of a similar style released before Zelda
- Tower of Druaga -> Zelda
- Tower of Druaga and The Black Onyx -> Hydlide
- John Szczepaniak (2016), The Untold History Of Japanese Game Developers, Volume 2 (from wikipedia)
- Panorama Toh -> Dragon Slayer
- Same creators
- D&D and Wizardry -> Tower of Druaga
- Oubliette -> Wizardry
- Moria -> Oubliette
- Reed, Aaron (2023). 50 years of text games: from Oregon trail to AI dungeon. Oakland: Changeful Tales Press. (via Wikipedia)
- The Game of Dungeons -> Moria
- Dungeons & Dragons -> The Game of Dungeons
- Mark J. P. Wolf Before the Crash: Early Video Game History (via wikipeda)
- Chainmail -> Dungeons & Dragons
- Same creators, the first rules ever published for D&D assumed that the reader already owns and knows the rules for Chainmail
- Siege of Bodenburg -> Chainmail
- Witwer, Michael; Newman, Kyle; Peterson, Jon; Witwer, Sam (2018). Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History. (via Wikipedia)
- The American Kriegsspiel & Strategos, The American Wargame -> Little Wars
- Kriegsspiel -> The American Kriegsspiel and Strategos, the America Wargame
- Peter P. Perla (2012) [1st pub. 1990]. John Curry (ed.). Peter Perla’s The Art of Wargaming: A Guide for Professionals and Hobbyists. (via wikipedia)
- Chess -> Hellwig’s Wargame
- “Foreign War Games”. Selected Professional Papers Translated from European Military Publications. Translated by H. O. S. Heistand. Washington D.C.: US Government Printing Office. 1898. (via wikipedia)
- Chaturanga -> Chess
- Lothal stone age “chess” board game -> Chaturanga
- Greenberg, Henry J. (30 September 2015). The Anti-War Wargame: a Comprehensive Analysis of the Origins of the Game of Chess 1989-1990. (via wikipedia)
- Outdoor Survival -> D&D
- Pulsipher, Lewis (August–September 1977). “Open Box: Tunnels and Trolls”. White Dwarf. No. 2. (via wikipedia)
- Tolkien’s Legendarium -> D&D
- Crist I -> Tolkien
- Beowulf -> Tolkien
- Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.). (via wikipedia)
- Volsunga Saga and Nibelungenlied -> Tolkien
- Evans, Jonathan. “The Dragon Lore of Middle-earth: Tolkien and Old English and Old Norse Tradition”. (via wikipedia)
- Finnish Kalevala -> Tolkien
- Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. (via wikipedia)
- Shakespeare -> Tolkien
- William Morris -> Tolkien
- Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (2023) [1981]. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition. (via wikipedia)
- Shinto -> Zelda
- This one is marked “speculative” because I have no direct primary sources demonstrating it. But it would have been unavoidable ambient culture for a young Shigeru Miyamoto, it’s impossible for it to have not influenced him in some ways, especially since he took so much of his inspiration from exploring the natural world around his home town.
- Scramble -> Moon Patrol
- Scramble was an influential shmup and a shmup historian I spoke to speculated that it probably influenced Moon Patrol, but there is no proof.
- Space Invaders -> Scramble
- Space Invaders’ was highly influential on the shmup genre, ‘s influence on shmups was huge, practically unavoidable, but again no hard proof that it influenced Scramble directly.
- Breakout -> Space Invaders
- Via Wikipedia:
- Inamoto, Tetsuya (March 21, 2008). “スペースインベーダー・今明かす開発秘話――開発者・西角友宏氏、タイトー・和田洋一社長対談” [Space Invader, Development Secret Story Revealed Now―Interview With Developer Tomohiro Nishikado, Taito President Yoichi Wada]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Clean Sweep -> Breakout
- Pong and Computer Space -> Clean Sweep
- Via Wikipedia:
- Smith, Alexander (November 27, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry. Vol. 1: 1971 – 1982. CRC Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Magnavox’s Table Tennis -> Pong
- “Video game history”. R. H. Baer Consultants. 1998. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011.
- Spacewar! -> Computer Space
- Via Wikipedia:
- Edwards, Benj (December 11, 2011). “Computer Space and the Dawn of the Arcade Video Game”. Technologizer. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Lensman series -> Spacewar!
- Via wikipedia:
- Brand, Stewart (December 7, 1972). “Spacewar: Fantastic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums”. Rolling Stone. No. 123. pp. 50–58. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on August 28, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2006.
- Via wikipedia:
- Tokusatsu films -> Spacewar!
- via Wikipedia:
- “Players Guide To Electronic Science Fiction Games”. Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 2. March 1982. p. 36. ISSN 0730-6687.
- via Wikipedia:
- King Kong -> Tokusatsu:
- Via Wikipedia:
- Ragone, August (May 6, 2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters (paperback ed.). Chronicle Books. pp. 24–27. ISBN 978-1-4521-3539-7.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Journey to the West -> Tokusatsu
- Yoshiro Edamasa pioneered some common tokusatsu special effects in his Journey to the West film adaptation
- Via Wikipedia:
- 百科年鑑 [Encyclopedia Yearbook] (in Japanese). Heibonsha. 1984. p. 100 – via Google Books.
- King Kong -> Donkey Kong
- Miyamoto stated in court that he believed “Kong” was a generic English term for “gorilla”
- Via wikipedia:
- Stanton, Rich (June 27, 2024). “1980s Court Documents Show Nintendo Considered ‘Kong Dong’ and ‘Kong the Kong’ Before Settling on the Name Donkey Kong”. PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 12, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- Fujio Akatsuka and Osamu Tezuka -> Donkey Kong
- Shotaro Ishinomori -> Fujio Akatsuka
- Akatsuka worked as Ishinomori’s assistant on several manga and other projects
- https://fujio-akatsuka.fandom.com/wiki/Fujio_Akatsuka
- Shotaro Ishinomori and Osamu Tezuka -> Alakazam the great
- Via wikipedia:
- Shimamoto, Kazuhiko (2002). The Skull man. Ishinomori, Shōtarō, 1938-1998., Yoshimoto, Ray. Los Angeles, Calif.: Tokyopop. ISBN 9781931514651. OCLC 52120460.
- Via wikipedia:
- Osamu Tezuka -> Shotaro Ishinomori
- Ishinomori was an assistant to Tezuka
- Via wikipedia: Yadao, Jason S. (2009). The rough guide to Manga (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. ISBN 9781858285610. OCLC 421814256.
- Ishinomori was an assistant to Tezuka
- Princess iron Fan -> Osamu Tezuka
- Via wikipedia:
- “Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son-goku”. Tezuka Osamu Official. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- Via wikipedia:
- Early Disney -> Osamu Tezuka
- Via Wikipedia:
- “Osamu Tezuka: Fighting for peace with the Mighty Atom”. 19 August 2007.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Suiho Tagawa -> Osamu Tezuka
- Via Wikipedia:
- “1930s：History：ABOUT TEZUKA OSAMU：TezukaOsamu.net(EN)”. Tezukaosamu.net. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Rakugo -> Suiho Tagawa
- Via wikipedia:
- “Tokyo Art Navigation”. 2018-05-25. Archived from the original on 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
- Via wikipedia:
- Star Wars -> Indiana Jones
- Same creator, same star actor
- Pitched Indiana Jones to Stephen Spielberg explicitly while in hiding from the Star Wars project
- via Wikipedia:
- McBride, pp. 309–322
- via Wikipedia:
- Taoism -> Star Wars
- Via Wikipedia:
- Rosencrantz Kent, Castor (June 13, 2020). “May The Force Be With You…And Also With You: An Examination of Religion in and the Cultural Impact of Star Wars”. Relics, Remnants, and Religion: An Undergraduate Journal in Religious Studies. 5 (1).
- Via Wikipedia:
- The Hero With a Thousand Faces -> Star Wars
- Lawrence of Arabia -> Star Wars, Dune
- Via Wikipedia:
- “‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ Is The Unlikely Prequel To ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Dune,’ And All Your Favorite Fantasy Epics”. Decider.com. New York Post. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Dune -> Star Wars
- Via Wikipedia:
- “The Quietus – Opinion – In Defence Of… – Wild Sting: In Defence Of Dune”. The Quietus. January 30, 2012.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Flash Gordon -> Star Wars
- Morte d’Arthur -> Dune
- Via wikipedia:
- Stasio, Marilyn (December 3, 2000). “Cover Story: Future Myths, Adrift in the Sands of Time”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
- Foundation Trilogy -> Dune
- Via Wikipedia:
- O’Reilly, Tim. “Chapter 5: Rogue Gods”. Frank Herbert. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2020 – via oreilly.com.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Islam -> Dune
- Via Wikipedia:
- Bahayeldin, Khalid (January 22, 2004). “Arabic and Islamic themes in Frank Herbert’s Dune“. Baheyeldin.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Buck Rogers -> Flash Gordon
- Via wikipedia:
- Nicholls, Peter; Brosnan, John; Langford, David; Westfahl, Gary; Clute, John, eds. (2015). “Flash Gordon”. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. London, England: Orbit Books. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- Via wikipedia:
- Pulp literature magazines -> Buck Rogers
- This is a speculative connection based on common themes, timing, and the way that Buck Rogers is often described as a “pulp” hero. I haven’t seen confirmation.
- Treasure Island -> Pulp lit magazines:
- Speculative based on timing and common topics and audiences.
- Treasure island -> King Solomon’s Mines
- Via wikipedia:
- H. Rider Haggard, The Days of My Life, ed. by C. J. Longman, 2 vols (1926), vol. 1.
- Via wikipedia:
- King Solomon’s Mines -> Indiana Jones
- via Wikipedia:
- “Indiana Jones franchise”. Violet Books. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
The entire Indiana Jones franchise – films, television’s Young Indiana Jones, books, games, comics, merchandise, Disneyland adventure-ride, & Indy imitations such as Romancing the Stone – owes everything to H. Rider Haggard as filtered through lowbudget film serials (themselves frequently inspired by Haggard). Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones as a hyperactive American version of Allan Quatermain
- “Indiana Jones franchise”. Violet Books. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
- via Wikipedia:
- Akira Kurosawa’s influence on westerns:
- Kurosawa -> Star Wars
- Via Wikipedia:
- Miller, David (September 9, 2021). “Star Wars: Every Kurosawa Reference & Homage In Movies & Shows Explained”. ScreenRant. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Akira Kurosawa -> Hong Kong action films
- I have misplaced the source I had for this one. Consider this connection speculative until proven
- Kajiro Yamamoto -> Akira Kurosawa
- via wikipedia:
- Kurosawa 1983, pp. 89–93
- via wikipedia:
- Conan the barbaian -> D&D
- Pulp lit magazines -> Conan
- Conan first appeared in pulp literature magazine Weird Tales
- Lovecraft -> Conan
- Lovecraft and conan author Robert Howard were friends, and connected because of prause that Howard had for The Rats in the Walls
- Via wikipedia:
- Finn (2006, pp. 148–149)
- Jack London, Omar Khayyam, Eugene O’Neill, and Shakespeare -> Conan
- Via wikipedia:
- Burke (1998, § F)
- Via wikipedia:
- Edgar Allen Poe -> Lovecraft
- Via wikipedia:
- Joshi 2010a, p. 240; Cannon 1989, p. 16.
- Via wikipedia:
- Pulp literature magazines -> Lovecraft
- His first published writing appeared in pulp magazines
- Via wikipedia:
- Joshi 2010a, p. 140; de Camp 1975, pp. 76–77.
- John Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley
- They were all close associates and part of te same literatrary circles and movement
- Byron -> Edgar Allen Poe
- Keats -> Edgar Allen Poe
- Frankenstein -> Edgar Allen Poe
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner -> Mary Shelley (frankenstein)
- Paradise Lost -> Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)
- Robinson Crusoe, Edgar Allen Poe -> Treasure Island
- Via wikipedia:
- “Literary Network | Robert Louis Stevenson”. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- Via wikipedia:
- JRR TOlkien <-> CS Lewis
- They were friends, and part of trhe same literary club
- Via wikipedia:
- Glyer, Diana Pavlac (2019). “Surprised by friendship”. Christian History (132). Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- Le Morte D’Arthur and Der Ring des Nibelungen -> C. S. Lewis:
- Le morte D’Arthur -> William Morris:
- Via wikipedia:
- Mackail 1901, p. 81; MacCarthy 1994, pp. 96–97.
- Via wikipedia:
- The Book of Healing -> Omar Khayyam
- Via wikipedia:
- Boyle, J.A. (2007) [1975]. “‘Umar Khayyām: Astronomer, Mathematician and Poet”. In Richard N. Frye (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume IV: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 658–664. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521200936.023. ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6.
- Via wikipedia:
- The Aeneid -> The Divine Comedy
- Via WIkipedia:
- Jacoff, Rachel; Schnapp, Jeffrey T. (1991). The Poetry of Allusion: Virgil and Ovid in Dante’s ‘Commedia’. Stanford University Press. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0-8047-1860-8. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- Via WIkipedia:
- The Odyssey and the Iliad -> The Aeneid
- Via wikipedia:
- Fowler, Don. 1996. “Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)”. In The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Via wikipedia:
- Braunstein -> Blackmoor:
- Via wikipedia:
- Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the World. San Diego, California: Unreason Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0615642048.
- Via wikipedia:
- Blackmoor -> Dungeons & Dragons
- Via wikipedia:
- Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the World. San Diego, California: Unreason Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0615642048.
- Via wikipedia:
- Pac-Man animated series and Track & Field -> Pac-Land:
- Pac-Land -> Super Mario Bros
- Via Wikipedia:
- Szczepaniak, John (November 4, 2015). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Vol. 2 (1 ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 207–208. ISBN 978-1518655319. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
- Via Wikipedia:
- Popeye -> Pac-Man
- Via wikipedia:
- Kohler, Chris (May 21, 2010). “Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating”. Wired. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- Via wikipedia:
- Casper the Friendly Ghost and Obake no Q-Taro -> Cutie Q
- Via wikipedia:
- Kohler, Chris (May 21, 2010). “Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating”. Wired. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- Via wikipedia:
- Cutie Q -> Pac-man:
- Purchese, Robert (May 20, 2010). “Iwatani: Pac-Man was made for women”. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.