Malon

Malon is a recurring character in the Legend of Zelda series. In the majority of her appearances, she and her father Talon are the owners of Lon Lon Ranch, where they raise horses, Cuccos, and cows.

With the exception of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, Malon always appears together with Epona, a mare. She can also be heard singing a song known as "Epona's Song", which she learned from her mother. This song has the power to tame Epona, an otherwise seemingly wild horse.

In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, two characters, Romani and Cremia, have the same appearance as Malon as a youth and adult, respectively. They also have a ranch known as Romani Ranch. Also, Marin and Tarin, characters that appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, are both very similar to Malon and Talon, respectively.

Interestingly, Malon is usually seen wearing a pendant identical to her father's. The pendant resembles Bowser, a character from Nintendo's Mario series.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Malon, Talon, and Ingo work at Lon Lon Ranch in Hyrule Field. Link first meets her in Hyrule Castle Town, where she tells him that her father has gone missing while delivering Lon Lon Milk to Hyrule Castle. He is given the Weird Egg, which hatches into a Cucco. Link eventually finds Malon's father sleeping near Hyrule Castle. He wakes him up with the newborn Cucco. Fearing Malon's rage, Talon flees back to the ranch to apologize. Malon can later teach Link "Epona's Song" on the Ocarina. When he plays this, the usually shy horse Epona rushes to Link.

Later, when Link returns after having been sealed inside the Temple of Time for seven years, he discovers that the ranch has been taken over by Ingo, and Malon is being forced to work at the ranch, lest Ingo punish the horses. Link eventually beats Ingo in a horse race, and he returns to "normal". Talon moves back to the ranch. After this, Link can participate in a horse race hurdle mini-game. The high score is held by Malon. If he breaks the record, he will be given a cow as a reward.

Malon is seen in the ending credits at Lon Lon Ranch celebrating with Epona.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Malon and Talon breed Cuccos north of Horon Village, near Eyeglass Lake. When Link first meets her, Talon has embarked on a hiking trip on Mt. Cucco, leaving Malon behind to tend to the Cuccos alone. She acknowledges that she has very little experience with the subject. Link can give her a Cuccodex, an encyclopedia of Cuccos, in exchange for an Egg, which she refers to as a popular "beauty aid" among young girls in Holodrum. This is part of the trading quest for the Noble Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Malon's role in Four Swords Adventures is small. She can be found in The Field, the first stage of Near the Fields, the game's fourth level. When she is returning to her father's ranch, the nearby Hyrulean Soldiers start firing old cannons, blocking Malon's way with fireballs. Link agrees to help her home and leads her back to the ranch. Talon, her father, then allows Link to use their horses as a reward for protecting his daughter.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Malon and Talon appear again in The Minish Cap. Here, Lon Lon Ranch is located east of Hyrule Town. At one point, Talon manages to lose the key to their house. Link eventually retrieves it for them, allowing Malon to sell Lon Lon Milk in Hyrule Town.

Whenever Link approaches her in this game, she sings "Epona's Song".

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time manga
In the Ocarina of Time manga Link goes to Lon Lon Ranch in an attempt to find the Spiritual Stone of Water. He meets Malon there who shows him around and is very happy to have a visitor. She makes some jokes about Ingo's complaints and teaches him "Epona's Song". She will also tell him she hopes that one day a prince would come for her.

In the Adult Saga she is held hostage by Ingo who punishes the horses. She is upset at first but calms down when she starts to imagine about a prince coming to save her. When Link comes for her she doesn't want him to help her, to the point of not even remembering him until he played "Epona's Song" to remind her of their meeting seven years ago, as she is convinced that she must wait for her prince, however he saves her anyway and Malon falls in love with him. Together with Link she destroys the device used to control Ingo's brain and fight off the Gerudo. When the situation becomes difficult they take Ingo and jump over the gate on Epona to escape Lon Lon Ranch. Talon is very grateful and promises that he will stop sleeping on the job.

Possible love interest
There has been speculation and heated debate about the possibility of Malon being Link's love interest; reasons include the fact that one of the Gossip Stones outside the Temple of Time states that Malon dreams of a knight in shining armor, the fact that Talon jokes that Link should marry his daughter, the fact that Malon always seems to be cheerful around Link especially after he rescues Epona, and the fact that - aside from Navi - Malon is the only female of the entire supporting and main cast who does not become a Sage, which is implied to prohibit relationships. When Princess Ruto awakens as the Sage of Water, she says that she cannot offer Link her love now, as she must guard the Water Temple and Link must continue his quest. When Saria awakens as a sage, she tells him that it is their destiny to live in different worlds. Whether these statements still apply when Hyrule is at peace is not clear. It is also unknown whether or not any of these characters are awakened as Sages in the altered timeline that arises when Princess Zelda sends Link back in time to live out his childhood.

The Link in Twilight Princess is a rancher, which hints that a relationship may have happened. However, in an interview with Nintendo Power, Eiji Aonuma stated that the Link of Twilight Princess is not necessarily a descendant of the Ocarina of Time Link, which indicates that Link's occupation as a rancher in Twilight Princess does not necessitate a relationship between Malon and Link. Also, the Twilight Princess Link does not necessarily need to have an ancestry of ranchers just because he is one himself.