5. Hyrule's Dark Side
The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's longest running flagship series. It features recurring protagonist Link (that's Link, not Zelda), who is locked in a perpetual battle with Ganondorf. Occasionally the series deviates from the formula, with the greatest offering coming from Majora's Mask - which saw Link do battle with a Skull Kid and his mysterious mask to prevent the apocalypse, and featured time travel elements.
So, what's so disturbing about the Legend of Zelda? The series has a long standing tradition of containing dark aspects - some well hidden,
some not so - in an otherwise normal fantasy world. When you stop to question why the people of Hyrule allow someone who's obviously a serial killer to run a mask shop and deal with children, you'll probably realise that Link is spending his time saving a rather disturbed kingdom. Here are a few such moments.
The Well Dungeon/Shadow Temple 
Without a doubt the most pant wetting sections of
Ocarina of Time, which surprisingly take place in the homely Kakariko village. The bottom of the well section, is clearly an ancient prison/torture dungeon, containing: a St. Andrew's cross
covered in blood and chains, skulls and skeletons littering the rooms and prison cells and trick floors. There's a strong implication the place is full of tortured spirits, which Link is able to hear. If the ambience wasn't already terrifying enough, you then encounter
Dead Hand...The Shadow Temple is more of the same - though heavily suggested to be built as a celebration of Hyrule's hatred - but is also home to the
Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo; a massive, drum beating monstrosity.
The Twilight Realm 
Appearing in
Twilight Princess, the Twilight Realm is literally Hyrule's dark side. It was created to imprison a group of dark magicians (with massive balls) who tried to usurp the gods themselves, and steal the Triforce. It's portrayed as a pretty depressing place to 'live,' essentially being a void shrouded in darkness. To make matters worse, it's ruled over by an insane despot (Zant) who mutilates his own people into twisted beings, which look like a
Digimon as drawn by
Team Silent. He's also working for Ganondorf, so it's basically what would have happened if
Hitler didn't break his pact with
Stalin. Fact.
Mass Death
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Zelda games is how often the villains actually carry out mass murder. Prior to
Wind Waker's story the old Hylian Kingdom is flooded by the Gods, due to Ganondorf being a dick;
the Castle Town is destroyed in
Ocarina (again by Ganondorf), and its inhabitants turned into Re-Deads. These are canonical events; as in 100% happened in the game's setting. Wind Waker also suggests that Tingle (that 35 year old man fairy) is a
mass murderer - to the surprise of absolutely no one. In
Majora's Mask the whole objective of the game is to prevent the apocalypse by way of demonic moon - though pretty much everyone in that game is harbouring some dark secret. The murder rate in the Zelda universe puts
Midsummer Murders to shame.
