While there are plenty of things to love about The Legend of Zelda, like its beautifully crafted worlds and well-constructed narratives, there is no denying the impact that its heartwarming and often quirky characters have on the series’ success. The world of The Legend of Zelda is chock-full of noteworthy characters who help out Link in a variety of ways, from teaching him new skills to offering him advice to simply fleshing out the lore of Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the latest installment in the franchise to add even more characters to this growing list who won’t soon be forgotten.
Nintendo has officially confirmed that it is moving on from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with no direct sequel coming to close out what might have been a Zelda: Breath of the Wild trilogy. That being said, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s spirit lives on, as the recently announced Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom evolves Zelda: TotK‘s Ultrahand ability with a new Tri Rod that Zelda can use in similar ways to Ultrahand. Arguably, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s spirit should live on beyond mere mechanics by allowing some of its fan-favorite characters to have recurring appearances in future installments.
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Best Characters Need to Come Back
The Legend of Zelda hasn’t shied away from allowing some of its best characters to transcend each installment to appear in the next, and it shouldn’t stop after Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Regularly recurring Zelda characters like Tingle and Beedle are almost guaranteed a spot in future games (although Tingle did not make an appearance in Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom), as well as the more important characters like Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. However, some of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s best characters shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Zelda Fans Decided Which Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Characters Were the Best
In a Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom survey from late 2023, fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorite characters in the game. According to the results, both Link and Zelda received the most votes, though that much is to be expected. In third place was Tulin, the Rito warrior turned Sage of Wind who appeared in both Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Despite only receiving around a third of the votes that Zelda received, Tulin is almost universally received as one of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s best characters, and there is more than enough evidence in online forums and Reddit threads to prove it.
Falling just behind Tulin in votes were Sidon, Riju, Purah, and Rauru.
While it might be difficult to bring all of these characters back in future Zelda installments and have them fit within the context of each game’s narrative, it might be equally challenging to exclude them from future installments without negative feedback from the fans who have grown to love them. Each of these characters is beloved for a different reason, but it is clear that they have all contributed something significant to the franchise that shouldn’t be ignored as The Legend of Zelda continues to press on past Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. At the very least, it would be nice to have Tulin back as a Rito representative, as well as Purah, whom fans have become attached to since her first appearance in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
- Released
- May 12, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- ESRB
- Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- How Long To Beat
- 59 Hours
- Metascore
- 96
