Why Can’t Chris Houlihan From The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Be Found?

Why Can’t Chris Houlihan From The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Be Found?
GTV 110 “Where’s Chris?!” According to Gaming Lore, Chris won a Nintendo Power Contest. Why has he never come forward to tell his story? (More below…)

0:00 Pre-emption
0:12 GTV ID: The Leader of the Next Generation!
0:20 Introduction
0:36 PAID: Shiller Legends
1:33 Prologue
3:23 The Warmech Challenge
4:50 The Discovery of Chris Houlihan
6:53 Others From The Dark Ages Told Their Tale….
8:32 The Theory
13:24 A Missed Opportunity
15:46 Nintendo’s Silence
16:44 Shock ending!!

All the GTV episodes about Role-Playing Games!

19 Dragon Quest Museum https://youtu.be/o4bq48lkpvo
23 Kid Icarus 30 https://youtu.be/ZGf6wIu9kEM
38 The Manga of Zelda https://youtu.be/BeBFN9hdk-8
48 Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/FZcij7XPdzI
52 Final Fantasy Museum: Memories Of You https://youtu.be/sXF4srnPJqA
73 Final Fantasy Fried Chicken https://youtu.be/Wn9QDKeklZM
Phantasy Star 2 CM https://youtu.be/q431-u3RvOw
75 Phantasy Star II 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/4F3LnKYEv-8
77.1 The Manga of Link Part One https://youtu.be/GFJ_I5OBh1Y
78 Cosmic Fantasy 3 Secret Code! https://youtu.be/mV4jswNWn54
87 3D Dot Game Heroes https://youtu.be/wJXFge8SRiw
Phantasy Star 3 CM https://youtu.be/QSN3iH2wDvg
94 Phantasy Star III 30th Anniversary https://youtu.be/T-9uSzMkXKs
97 The Legendary Mother https://youtu.be/7mpAdSpXb0E
107 StarTropics: The American Game https://youtu.be/65F7xNqiZVA

and watch Wes’s Xmas 1988 Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_J2aepGilA
Believe it or not, another channel did nearly the same video the same week as me. Check out In Pencil’s take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwhkzqbXqyQ

Partial transcript

In the gaming world, there have been many legends, myths, lore, whatever you want to call it. Some of these legends, in the Internet Era have been proven or disproven while others still just hang out there. And even today one of the great mysteries still not yet solved. “

“Where is Chris Houlihan?”

Who IS Chris Houlihan anyway?
According to Video Game Lore, he was one of the luckiest kids on Earth. Immortalized forever as one of the few people out there whose name is found in a video game, outside of a Staff Roll…
Chris Houlihan is found in The Legend of Zelda: A Like to the Past, known by some older gamers as Zelda 3 for short. In the game you’ll find a treasure room with his name written on the wall. A really cool thing!
The issue is that no one seems to know who Chris is, where he came from, or where he is now.
The status quo will tell you that Chris was the winner of a contest held by Nintendo to have your name put into a game, which ended up being The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past.. However, beyond that, not much is known. The real Chris Houlihan has never come forward to speak about it! Why??It’s a mystery on all sides where many have searched for years to answer.

I am going to go into detail here and present my findings and theories on the matter. No. I do not have a smoking gun. No official document that nails this thing down. I have not met Chris Houlihan. I admit I don’t have all the answers. If you think I’m wrong, tell me! But keep an open mind and I’ll present you with a set of Alternative Facts, along with The Theory that will have you questioning what you’ve always been told.

The Legend of Chris Houlihan goes back to the Summer of 1990. Final Fantasy had just been released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, thanks to Nintendo, who offered to publish the game in the USA.

Nintendo used its PR machine, a print magazine called Nintendo Power, to promote many new games, give reviews, and offer strategies. Final Fantasy received a huge amount of coverage by Nintendo Power in 1990, second only to Super Mario Bros 3. Across three issues, and a dedicated strategy guide, Nintendo was serious about getting the word out on Final Fantasy. As part of the promotion, the magazine held several contests. One of these contests that tied in Final Fantasy offered a unique prize!

To enter this contest, dubbed “The Warmech Challenge” you had to capture an in-game photo of a rare and powerful enemy known as a Warmech in Final Fantasy October 15, 1990. The winner would be randomly chosen and have their name in a future Nintendo game, with no other details given.

Research:

The links I used to pinpoint 2001 as the date of First Discovery

https://ift.tt/3axOh7A Feb 2001
https://ift.tt/38dVS8K Feb 2001
https://ift.tt/3atjhFU June 2001
https://ift.tt/3raP9VE
Dated 2002

Stories of 15-minutes of Nintendo Fame
https://ift.tt/30d1D5g
https://ift.tt/37yQ9ey
https://ift.tt/2tRADWR

Some footage courtesy of Scanlinksean and FFTV
via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilk-EBGbRRA