Zelda Link's Awakening Mysterious Forest - How to Get Past the Raccoon and Find the Tail Key
Here's how to navigate the Mysterious Forest in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, as well as how to get past the raccoon and find the Tail Key.
The Mysterious Forest section of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Nintendo Switch hides much to be uncovered, including a humanoid raccoon. In this Zelda Link's Awakening Mysterious Forest guide, we'll be detailing everything there is to do and complete in the forest, including the Link's Awakening Raccoon puzzle, how to get the Link's Awakening Tail Key, and more.
Zelda Link's Awakening Mysterious Forest Walkthrough
After you've retrieved Link's sword from the beach, you can head into the Mysterious Forest, which lie immediately north from Mabe Village. When you enter the woods, the friendly owl will descend and give you a helpful piece of advice: the goal in the Mysterious Forest is to obtain the Tail Key, which you'll need to gain access to the dungeon just south of Mabe Village.
From entering the Mysterious Forest, you'll encounter a few blue Moblins. Just northeast from the entrance is the raccoon, who sits just to the right of a tree in a clearing, repeatedly beating his stomach like some weird sort of drum.
Zelda Link's Awakening Raccoon Puzzle
Speak to the raccoon, and he'll tell you his nose is incredibly sensitive. Head north from the raccoon, and he'll trick you, transporting you to a different location in the Mysterious Forest.
From here, head south, west, and then north, fighting three blue Moblins as you go. You'll eventually come to a fallen tree trunk, with a sign just outside it. This is actually the path through a small underground section of the Mysterious Forest, so head into the tree trunk.
In the cave, ignore the bats and chest for now, and head all the way around to the left, taking the path up and out of the area. Push the blocks aside in the room with the Piece of Heart, ignoring it for now, and exit the cave back into the Mysterious Forest.
Defeat the blue Moblin with a shield when you're back outside, and then pick up the toadstool, which is actually a key item in getting rid of the raccoon. With the toadstool, you need to double back all the way through the cave, so you're back outside in the Mysterious Forest.
From the fallen tree trunk, go north, defeating a blue Moblin with a shield, and two red Gel enemies. After defeating the two Gels, turn east, defeating two Moblins as you go. Now when you reach Koholint Prairie, you need to go south, past the electric green Gel enemy that you can't defeat just yet.
Zelda Link's Awakening Magic Powder
When you come to a boulder that's blocking stairs downwards, turn east, and you'll be able to enter a creepy door in a tree with a huge skull atop it. Welcome to the witch's house! Speak to the witch, and she'll note that you've got the toadstool in your possession.
Give the witch the toadstool, and she'll create magic powder for you, which goes immediately in your inventory. Press + on your Switch to access the inventory, and assign the magic powder to either the X or Y buttons.
You now need to backtrack through the Mysterious Forest, defeating two blue Moblins, two red Gel enemies, and going south. Instead of re-entering the cave to your east, turn west. Defeat a few blue Moblins, and you can then go north to encounter the raccoon once again.
Now stand in front of the raccoon, and press either Y or X to use the magic powder. The raccoon will begin spinning out of control all around the tree, before crashing to the floor in front of you. The raccoon will then transform into a regular old human being!
Zelda Link's Awakening Tail Key
Now that the man has been transformed back into himself again, you can go just north from him and collect the Tail Key from the chest surrounded by bushes to finish the area. You're now completely finished with the Mysterious Forest in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Switch!
If it's more Link's Awakening coverage you're after, then USG has you sorted. You can head over to our additional guides on the game, including our Link's Awakening Dream Shrine guide for how to get the Ocarina, our Link's Awakening Kanalet Castle guide for how to complete the trading sequence, our Link's Awakening Slime Key guide for the locations of all the Golden Leaves for Richard, or our Link's Awakening Wind Fish Egg guide for more.