Agahnim, for those of you who only know Zelda 64, was a major source of trouble for Link in A Link to the Past. He was the kings chief advisor and heir to the seven wise men (sages) after he stopped the droughts that had ravished Hyrule. He used his new position and power to gain access to the daughters of the wise men, including Zelda. He sent them to the Dark World (the old Sacred Realm) where Ganon would use them to break the sages' seal. Link defeated him, but Agahnim sent Link to the Dark World. After rescuing the maidens, Link met Agahnim again, and once again defeated him. From his dead body rose Ganon. Confused?

One major source of trouble is a quote from Ganon near the end of LttP. "I do not know how you defeated my alter ego, Agahnim, twice." (I know that is not exact, don't sue.) The problem is with the word alter ego. It generally means another personality of someone, like Superman is Clark Kent's alter ego. Thus, it sounds like Agahnim is, in fact, Ganon. But that cannot be. The seal was still in place when Agahnim appeared in Hyrule. So why would Ganon need the maidens if he already found a way to enter the light world? Certainly seems rather strange to me. Perhaps Agahnim is only a projection of Ganon, and not entirely "real"? Well, this seems to be unnecessarily complicated. It appears that Agahnim and Ganon are two distinct entities. In fact, looking up the word "alter-ego" in my handy Webster's Dictionary, I found two meanings: "one's other self" and "a constant companion." The second definition seems closer to the truth, although I can't imagine Ganon ever having a "constant companion."

Now to his origins. Agahnim was not a native of Hyrule. He studied wizardry somewhere else. Somewhere along the line, he managed to communicate with Ganon, who was still in the Dark World. Agahnim agreed to help him, presumably in return for greater magical powers. After all, the LttP instruction manual stated that Agahnim stopped the droughts with a "previously unseen form of magic." Previously unseen, perhaps, because, it came directly from Ganon. Agahnim possibly made the problems in the first place, but it is known that he stopped them. This was undoubtedly so that he could get close to the king and use his influence for Ganon's wishes.

In my history I said that Agahnim was a Shiekah. My main reason for saying this was "why not?" Nowhere does it state that he was a Hylian. Actually, I have two reasons for and one reason against this statement, and so I decided to use it. Reason one: his clothes, in the booklet, bore an insignia that closely resembles the one on Sheik, the Gossip Stones, and the Mask of Truth. I believe (although I am not certain) that somewhere in the game it says that the Mask of Truth is Shiekah in origin. Also, the Shiekah were the shadow people. Impa and Sheik were able to appear and disappear at will. Agahnim, in the game, disappears often, turning into a shadow. As for the reason against, Impa was said to be the last Sheikah. However, that could mean the last Sheikah in Hyrule. Agahnim was not from Hyrule.

Now what of Link and Agahnim's second meeting. Link obviously kills Agahnim, but Ganon arose from Agahnim's body. This would seem to support the theory that Ganon is Agahnim which I so rudely disproved. However... Link supposedly killed Agahnim in their first meeting. Either Agahnim somehow escaped into the dark world or he truly did die. If he died, maybe the second one was truly Ganon in disguise. Perhaps Ganon wanted to scare Link a bit by bringing him back from the dead. After all, there were also two Agahnim "ghosts" there as well. If Agahnim, the true Agahnim, could create them, wouldn't he have done so at the beginning? He was fighting for his life. And we know that Ganon could change forms, as he also changed into a bat. So it is possible that the second Agahnim is not Agahnim at all, but Ganon in disguise. Perhaps he just wanted to mess with Link's mind. Who knows? The guy's nuts.

Agahnim was a Sheikah (maybe). He contacted Ganon somehow and gained new, impressive powers. He used these powers to get close to the king and send the maidens to the Dark World. Link eventually killed him, but it was too late. With his dying breath, Aganhim then sent Link to the Dark World. Ganon, for some reason, disguised himself as Aganhim when he first met Link. Link defeated this persona, and Ganon revealed his true form. Agahnim lived on then only in the history books. And I am done because I am sick of writing the name Agahnim.