Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, I thought I’d focus on a short, fictional character clad in green garb and a matching hat. No, it’s not a leprechaun. It’s not Young Link, either. It’s a character that was never fully realized. Had he been completely developed and utilized, he might have replaced one of the champions in Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild features four champions (in addition to Link): selected warriors from each of the major races in Hyrule to serve as pilots of the divine beasts and protectors of the realm. There’s Mipha, the soft-spoken Zora, Daruk, the boisterous Goron, Urbosa, the fierce Gerudo, and Revali, the brash Rito. Each has a unique background, skill set, and relationship with Link, and all meet with a tragic fate. Part of Link’s mission, should he choose to accept it, is to retake control of the divine beasts and free the champions’ trapped spirits. By doing so, Link learns about the individual champions and the races to which they belong.
Early in the game’s development, it appears the designers considered a champion of another race in place of the Rito. In the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion book, a sketch of this would-be warrior appears next to rough drawings of Link and the Goron, Zora, and Gerudo (or Sheikah?) champions. The notes read, “[I]n place of a Rito champion, there is a character who resembles a Kokiri from Ocarina of Time.” The hero is dressed in the familiar style of his people, with a green tunic and Phrygian cap. His appearance stirs memories of Young Link’s encounters with Mido and the rest of the gang back in Kokiri forest.
The Kokiri champion holds a long whip, suggesting the developers had something a little different in mind for a signature weapon from the bow that Revali ended up wielding. I for one am a little bummed that this weapon was not incorporated into the game somehow, even if not as a champion’s weapon. Wouldn’t it have been fun to sneak up on a sleeping Bokoblin and snap him awake, or play giddy-up on a Lynel like you’re gunning for the Kentucky Derby trophy? I suppose there’s always hope for the sequel.
I wonder why the idea of using a Kokiri was abandoned. Perhaps it was because the developers decided to forgo the Kokiri in favor of the Koroks, who ended up playing a major role. This would make sense, as the Koroks are the descendants of the Kokiri (although this didn’t stop the game from featuring both the Zora and Rito). Another explanation could be that the designers wanted to focus on only one forest-dwelling race. Or maybe they felt the Rito better matched the aesthetic of Breath of the Wild. Even if a Kokiri champion wasn’t chosen, the spirit of one of their most renown, Mido, lives on in Revali. What I’m saying is that they’re both mildly annoying Link haters.
Although Breath of the Wild didn’t feature a Kokiri champion, it’s worth wondering whether the race will make an appearance in the sequel. Perhaps there will not be a chosen warrior, but it would be cool to visit a reimagined version of Kokiri Forest and this green-clad clan. And perhaps we could even meet a new Fado. For sure, I want to see that whip, though.
