Despite being among the franchise’s most iconic and arguably memorable characters, Nintendo missed the perfect opportunity to include one particular individual inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. BetweenThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomand its predecessor,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many familiar faces from the series appeared in bothZeldagames on the Nintendo Switch. Yet withTears of the Kingdomin particular featuring classic series characters like Ganondorf, Beedle, and even a new interpretation of Rauru, one iconic character that has been a mainstay of pastZeldagames remained absent.
Having appeared in eightZeldagames and a spin-off seriesof his own, Tingle has long since become as much a staple character in theZeldafranchise as the likes of Link and Princess Zelda themselves. With a love-hate relationship amongZeldafans due to his comical design and backstory, perhaps it was no surprise that grounded games likeBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomopted to exclude Tingle. However, in hindsight, Tingle could have been an ideal character to feature inTears of the Kingdomas a natural counterbalance to the game’s world and story.
Tingle Would Have Been A Perfect Fit For Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Darker Story Deserved Tingle’s Comic Relief
While bothBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomhad more mature stories than pastZeldagames, Nintendo has always shown that it understands the need to balance darker tones with lighter moments through comic relief and feel-good moments. For instance,Breath of the Wildfeatured moments of levity, such as avoiding Magda’s flowers at Hila Rao shrine or distracting Yiga clan members with bananas, indicating that despite the game’s dark story there was still fun to be had. WhileTears of the Kingdomattempted the same humor, most of these moments were carried over fromBreath of the Wildas its direct sequel.
Therefore,balancing gameplay and story inTears of the Kingdomwith lighter moments could have been something it achieved with Tingle. Given his absence fromBreath of the Wild, his comeback would have caught players' attention inTears of the Kingdomand explained away using his lore as a self-proclaimed fairy returning to Hyrule alongside the Great Fairies from the previous game. Even if Nintendo had limited Tingle’s appearances inTears of the Kingdomto just a handful of occasions, it could have helped pay homage to the character’s history while adding some catharsis to the game’s story.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Sky Exploration Would Have Been Perfect For Tingle
Introducing aerial exploration and sky islands was one of the biggest changes toBreath of the Wild’s Hyrule and a major feature inTears of the Kingdom’s world design. WhileTears of the Kingdomcapitalized on the verticalityof its expanded open world, Nintendo missed an opportunity to combine these sky islands with the return of Tingle, given the character’s close association with balloons. With previous appearances inZeldagames likeMajora’s Mask,Oracle of Ages, andFour Swords Adventuresattached to a floating balloon, players could have encountered Tingle throughoutTears of the Kingdom’s skies and islands.
In fact, Tingle’s return inTears of the Kingdomcould have been a more organic and inventive way of gifting the player the Tingle Armor set which had previously appeared inBreath of the Wild. Instead of reducing the Tingle Armor set to one of several Misko’s Treasure side quests,Tears of the Kingdomcould have had Tingle give the player each piece of armor individually with three different encounters throughout the game. Not only would this incentivize players toexploreTears of the Kingdom’s sky more, but it could have added some novelty to searching for and then spotting Tingle’s red balloon in the distance.
