Up, up, and away: Aerial transport in The Legend Zelda series

There’s lots to appeal to fans in Tears of the Kingdom: the storyline and subplots, the Sky Islands and the Depths, the cooking, and the gossip about certain characters.

One of the game’s most talked-about features is the ability to build all kinds of different machines, including flying machines. Zonai Wings, fans, hot air balloons, and steering controls all make it easy (or at least, easier) for players to explore the game’s world from the air.

But Tears of the Kingdom is not the first time Link has taken to the skies, and Breath of the Wild isn’t, either. The Legend of Zelda games have included flight in some capacity for quite a long time.

Flute Bird

A Link to the Past probably showed one of the first examples of aerial travel in the games. Once you’ve played the boy’s flute in the Kakariko Village square, a helpful bird will help you quick-travel to one of eight locations around Hyrule. This is especially useful when you need to get to the potion shop, or swing by Kakariko Village, or want to get up to Death Mountain without having to climb through all the tunnels.

Loftwings

Ah, Loftwings: the best birds in all Skyloft. Link’s Crimson Loftwing can fly long distances between the islands of Skyloft and has exceptional turning and banking abilities. The birds are deeply loyal to their bonded riders, and will turn up at the sound of the whistle (that is, if the Loftwing hasn’t been locked up in a pen by the waterfall cave, isn’t that right, Groose?!) However, the bird won’t accompany you down to the Surface, which is a bit of a pity. If the Loftwings were allowed to fly down to the Surface, it would make journeying across some of the harsher terrain of Lanayru and Eldin Volcano a lot easier.

Irene’s Broom

The successor to the flute bird in A Link to the Past, Irene’s broom showed up in A Link Between Worlds. Irene the junior witch agrees to help you (somewhat begrudgingly) by flying you around Hyrule to a designated warp point if you summon her with a bell. At a later point in the game, Irene won’t be available to fly you herself, but her broom will still show up when summoned.

Paraglider

In Breath of the Wild, Link receives the Paraglider after finishing the four Great Plateau shrines. In Tears of the Kingdom, Link gets the glider once he arrives down at Lookout Landing (so you’ll have to get the hang of free-falling down from the Sky Islands…). In Breath of the Wild, without the Paraglider, you’re pretty much stuck on the Great Plateau, although some crafty players have found a way to get down without it. Once you have the Paraglider in hand, navigating the game’s world gets a lot easier. It’s fairly easy to steer, and you can briefly let go if you need to drop your altitude down. But there are certain limitations, most notably your stamina levels. If you run out of stamina, you’ll fall. Additionally, the Paraglider can only fly straight forward or at a downward angle. If you’re planning to fly a long distance, make sure you’ve got plenty of stamina-boosting foods on hand. You’ll also have to launch yourself from a high point, like a mountain peak, a tower, or a Sky Island. It also helps if there’s an air vent nearby, or if you have Revali’s Gale (or Tulin’s Vow) at your disposal.

During the pre-battle cutscenes in Age of Calamity, it’s kind of fun seeing the battle party members launching themselves from the Sheikah Tower and soaring off on Paragliders. Revali and Teba, of course, have no need for such things.

Deku Leaf

Before the paraglider in Breath of the Wild, The Wind Waker featured the Deku Leaf. The leaf functions more or less the same as the glider; you need it to fly up on updrafts, and your stamina puts a limit on how much time you can fly.

Zonai Wings

One of the many new gizmos introduced in Tears of the Kingdom, these bird-shaped gliders can fly at very high altitudes. They’re fairly straightforward to learn: to turn, you step on one wing or the other. If the gliders don’t have fans attached, they’ll have to be launched from a special track, such as you’ll find in the Sky Islands. It also helps if you attach wheels of some kind to the bottom, if you’re trying to launch from the ground. One little caveat: It helps to have some idea of where you’re planning to fly, because the Wing will vaporize after a certain period of time. And if you’re not within easy diving/paragliding distance of another island, better make sure you’ve got a warp point you can travel to, or at least hope that you’re not down to your last heart…

At the top of Death Mountain on your way to the Fire Temple, you will find a souped-up Wing with extra fans and batteries, which will be your chariot in the fight against Moragia. It took me a few tries to figure out how to fly it properly, but once you’ve figured it out, you can channel your inner flying ace to your heart’s content.

DIY Flying Machines

One of the best parts about Tears of the Kingdom, once you’ve mastered the Ultrahand ability, is being able to experiment with building your own flying machines. Stick a couple of Zonai fans, or a balloon and Flame Emitter, onto a suitable platform, and the sky is (almost) the limit. If you don’t have a Steering Stick equipped, however, you’re kind of at the mercy of the winds. It gets even easier after you learn the Autobuild function down in the Depths; this function allows you to whip up your favorite machines in a snap if you have enough Zonaite on hand. The Constructs also provide you with the schema to build things like fanplanes, hot air balloons, and dirigibles.

You can also fuse a rocket to a shield and zoom up into the air. But that lasts for only a few seconds before the rocket vaporizes.

Hot Air Balloons

The player might first encounter the balloons in the “Uplifting Device” Shrine. It may take a little bit of trial and error to learn how to use them (mostly because the balloons are flammable, and your only option in the shrine is an open candle). But with a special Zonai-made Flame Emitter, making a hot air balloon is a breeze. Just attach the emitter to the center of your platform or gondola, mount the balloon on top, and you’re good to go. But a few extra energy cells or batteries might be needed if you’re going for higher altitudes.

I found the hot air balloons to be rather useful in the Fire Temple when I was looking for a quick way to get to the upper levels. The mine cart railroad is an interesting challenge, but let’s face it, there are moments when expediency takes precedence.

Vah Medoh

Yes, this airborne Divine Beast counts as aerial transportation, once you’ve managed to get it to stop shooting laser blasts at you. But Vah Medoh really doesn’t have much purpose beyond being an aerial battle cruiser. Once you’ve defeated Windblight Ganon and spoken with Revali in Breath of the Wild, you can’t go back inside Medoh. In Age of Calamity, however, the player can channel their inner World War I flying ace by shooting down Moblins on hot-air-balloon platforms, or Wizzrobes, or Windblight Ganon, who’s come back for another round. We can speculate on whether the Moblins’ hot air balloons were a hint at what players could expect in Tears of the Kingdom.

The Dragons

It is possible to hitch a ride on the back of Farosh, Dinraal, Naydra, and the Light Dragon, if you’re careful and if your timing is good. Your reward is a long, smooth ride with amazing aerial views, to say nothing of being able to enjoy the beautifully haunting dragon theme music for long stretches of time. You haven’t lived, I think, until you’ve ridden high above Hyrule in a nighttime thunderstorm while perched on the tip of Farosh’s horn. Make sure you have appropriate clothing or foods to protect yourself from each dragon’s element (fire, ice, lightning), however.

Cuccos

Believe it or not, those obnoxious little pullets are useful for something, besides being feathery attack dogs (and, yes, sources of eggs). In Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild, it is possible to use a Cucco as a short-range flying machine. But mostly if you need a way to get down from the roof after corralling one of the birds in Kakariko Village.

Flying Rooster

One of the many strange and wonderful creatures inhabiting Koholint Island in Link’s Awakening, this initially deceased blue bird becomes Link’s traveling companion in the later stages of the game. The rooster is found in its underground tomb beneath the Mabe Village weather vane, and must be brought back to life with the help of Frog’s Song of Soul. Once resurrected, the rooster flies Link to the top of Tal Tal Heights to retrieve the Bird Key, which is needed to access the Eagle’s Tower dungeon.

Turning into a Fairy

I suppose this counts in a way. At certain moments in Adventure of Link, if you need to scale a really high wall or cross a chasm, the game will allow you to transform into a fairy and hover upwards for a few moments.