Theory — that new character in Tears of the Kingdom will have connections to Breath of the Wild’s dragons

About halfway through the final Tears of the Kingdom trailer, fans came face to face with a new, very interesting character. They were on screen for only a few seconds, and we didn’t get a name or a title for them, but there are a few details that we can glean with a quick analysis. Presumably, they’re a member of the Zonai, given the abundant green and gold jewelry that adorns their outfit. It also feels safe to say that they’re on Link’s and Zelda’s side, as there is a brief shot where Zelda meets them in person. That clip is preceded by a line of dialogue noting how Link is the “last line of defense” in the impending conflict. In fact, they’re more than likely the same enigmatic figure who first appeared in the murals from the September 2022 trailer.

When they lay a hand on Zelda’s shoulder, it sure looks exactly like the same arm that replaces Link’s after his encounter with Malice. There’s no mistaking the long fingernails, black skin, and the blocky pattern over their forearm. How the whole arm swap comes to be remains as much a mystery as their identity does, though.

Perhaps an even greater mystery than who they are, is what they are. The Legend of Zelda has featured all kinds of fantastical creatures and species over the years, and if this character’s design is what we can expect from the Zonai, then they will be among the most imaginative races in the entire series. From one perspective, this character might appear very mammalian. They’ve got a magnificent mane that’s a sheer waterfall of voluminous hair. Their long face is accentuated by a snout like that of an antelope or horse, complete with a prominent nose. Those huge, floppy ears would impress a basset hound. From another perspective, that snout may be more of a reptilian characteristic, the same for the array of horns, and those thin, piercing eyes.

Creature design that blends mammalian and reptilian traits should feel familiar to Legend of Zelda fans. With their long, serpentine bodies coated in scales, rows of spines, and talon-like claws, the dragons in Breath of the Wild have plenty of features that are common for the mythical monsters, but they also have a unique wrinkle in how decidedly mammalian their heads are. The smooth, rounded snouts, flowing manes, and enormous ears come together to create faces that are very different from your average Smaug type or Shenron type.

As explained by concept artist Satomi Usui in the Creating A Champion book, that unusual appearance was no accident as she was bringing the dragons to life –

“They were to fly through the sky and possess a mysterious yet calm aura, so I gave them a design that would feel a little strange. I played around with a number of ideas that would be recognizable as a dragon but also different from what you would expect. So I made the face and body mammalian, like a dog or a goat, and their arms contain elements of both birds and human hands.”

When examining the headshot of this new character, it’s like staring down the spitting image of the three dragons in Breath of the Wild: Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra. If you look real close, you will find that the lower fold on their eyelid has a very similar, spiky pattern as what the three dragons do. Upon further inspection, the new character’s cascading hair may have the same pattern as Farosh’s, Dinraal’s, and Naydra’s manes. Their ears are yet another striking similarity.

The resemblance may just be too great to be a mere coincidence. This new character and the rest of the Zonai people having direct connections to the dragons would explain why there is extensive dragon iconography seen in the Zonai remnants throughout the Era of the Wilds. Between the dragon heads carved into the Labyrinths’ walls, the dragon statues dotting the Faron Region’s jungles, and the many dragon heads that Link has been shown using as items and weapons in Tears of the Kingdom‘s trailers, the Zonai and the scaled beasts of legend have been routinely paired together thus far. With their architecture surrounding the Spring of Courage, the Zonai may already have established ties to Farosh.

That so many of the Zonai-related designs take obvious inspiration from Mesoamerican and South American cultures makes an association with mammalian-like dragons even more fitting. Ancient Andean civilizations, such as the Inca, believed in a creature known as the Amaru — a legendary serpent often depicted with the head of a llama, which could cross over between the spiritual realm and the mortal world at will. If the dragons in Breath of the Wild have any real world relative (at the very least, visually) the Amaru may be the leading candidate.

If such a connection between the new character, the Zonai, and Breath of the Wild’s dragons truly exists, the extent of it remains unclear for the time being. Did they simply revere the dragons as deities or guardians? Could the Zonai transform into dragons? Were they blessed with special powers from the dragons? The door is open for a number of possibilities, and with official screenshots released by Nintendo having shown at least one of the three dragons drifting among the Sky Islands in Tears of the Kingdom, we can assume that there is still more to learn about Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra.

Good thing it’s only a few weeks until all of the answers are finally revealed to Legend of Zelda fans.