Growing up with the Zelda series means that I have encountered my fair share of reoccurring characters. Beloved individuals like Tingle and Beedle are some of the first that come to mind, but one of my personal favorites would have to be the indefatigable mailman.
There are many iterations of postmen see throughout the Zelda series, with some even taking the form of Rito or weird Cupid-esque creatures. But the postman I like the most is the one found in Twilight Princess.
This postman looks similar to his other counterparts, sporting short shorts and an iconic red hat. But he stands out due to his quirky behavior and exaggerated body language. From breathing heavily while running to singing the victory theme when he hands Link a letter, he is just one of the most expressive characters in the entire game.
The emotion and character animations tell a lot about the postman. He will run all the way across Hyrule Field (which is particularly massive in Twilight Princess) just to hand Link a letter, and nothing will be able to stop him along the way. Not Zant, not Ganondorf, not even the spread of Twilight can prevent the postman from delivering the mail.
When he is not actively doing his job, the Postman can be found in various areas around Hyrule, making sure that even the goats get their mail. I think that might be my favorite feature of the Twilight Princess postman. It feels like he’s actually part of the world, instead of just a tool for Link to use whenever Malo has a sale or whenever Ooccoo sends him a letter after a dungeon.
Out of all of the postmen in the Zelda series, he is also one of the few with good post office etiquette. Unlike those who deliver letters in Phantom Hourglass, he doesn’t read his clients’ mail to them and instead acts as a proper courier. Sometimes his letters are rather unclear, like a letter addressed to a “Mr. Zora” at Zora’s Domain, but he still tries his best to make sure his job is completed swiftly and accurately. And when he makes mistakes, he genuinely tries to fix them, like when he accidentally dropped a letter in a hot spring and tried to dry it off.
As much as I want to write about some deep discovery about the postman and why he is so important to the story, I think I just like him for what he is: a silly postman. Not every character needs a long and in-depth backstory to be enjoyable. Sometimes, they can just be goofy couriers trying their hardest to do their jobs right. To me, there is just something so charming about this normal guy who’s passionate about mail.
And besides, how many other postmen do you know who can run around large kingdom with a huge banner attached to their backs, or who serenade you when they deliver your mail? At the end of the day, the Twilight Princess Postman really does deserve a lot more credit than people tend to give him.
