Will Tears of the Kingdom be a darker Legend of Zelda game?

Across the expanse of the Legend of Zelda games, there have often been significant variations in aesthetics and tones. One of the best ways to see this is to take a look at The Wind Waker (2003), with its bright colors, toon-style characters, and generally cheerful narrative, and compare it to its immediate successor, Twilight Princess (2006), with its low lighting, moody disposition, and gothic design.

Curiosity has been rising about what approach the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom will take, whether it sticks closely to the original game or ventures into some of the more shadowy corners of Hyrule. Many fans are keen to see it put a Majora’s Mask-esque lens on Hyrule, sinking below the rolling fields to discover something sinister underneath. Eiji Aonuma has previously spoken on how the sequel might compare, stating that it is “not necessarily going to be related to Majora’s Mask or inspired by it”, but that it would be darker than its predecessor.

The Shadows of Hyrule

Breath of the Wild certainly doesn’t share the level of creepiness found in Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, but that’s not to say it’s completely without a darker side. Even a century after the Calamity, shadows still loom over Hyrule.

As the player travels across the map, the NPCs will bequeath them with stories and quests that reveal the bleak reality for many in the kingdom. Livelihoods destroyed by monsters, friends and family members going missing or killed, treasured cultural relics stolen away, even the remains of giant Leviathan beasts left to decay under the sun: all of it a reminder that while Link slumbered, life outside the Shrine of Resurrection went on, though not without great cost.

Possibly the most tragic storyline in the game follows Sheikah Gatekeeper, Dorian, his unnamed wife, and their two children, Koko and Cottla. Before arriving in Kakariko Village, Dorian had been a member of the murderous Yiga Clan. He was sent to the village under orders to spy on Impa and the rest of its inhabitants, feeding information back to the Yiga. However, during his time there, he fell in love with a Sheikah woman with whom he had two daughters. With this new life taking shape, Dorian realized he no longer wished to serve the Yiga and set out to change his ways. He attempted to abandon his former clan and turn his life towards serving the Sheikah Tribe, protecting Impa, and raising his children with his wife.

However, the Yiga Clan, furious with this betrayal, decided that Dorian must be punished. They murdered his wife in cold blood, then threatened to do the same to his two young daughters unless Dorian continued to spy on Kakariko Village and the Sheikah Tribe. Fearing for his children’s safety, Dorian reluctantly followed their orders, providing what little scraps of information he could give away. His grief following the loss of his wife led him to make a second attempt at cutting ties with the Yiga Clan, believing he could protect his children — but this time, they revealed their plot to kill Impa and Paya if he disobeyed.

It is only following Link’s intervention in The Stolen Heirloom Shrine quest that Dorian is finally able to separate himself from the Yiga Clan once and for all. A completely changed man from his Yiga past, he implores Link not to reveal his secret to the Sheikah Tribe, pledging to protect the village and his children unconditionally.

A lesser-known addition to this story is that within the concept art for Breath of the Wild, there are designs for the ghost of a Sheikah woman. It is believed that this was intended to be Dorian’s wife and that she originally would have featured in the game as a spirit, but this idea was scrapped somewhere along the way.

This storyline took many players by surprise, as the game thus far had led them not to expect such a heavy arc. Its inclusion was important, though, to paint a picture of what life in Hyrule was truly like during the Calamity: the needless loss of life, citizens being taken advantage of, and disturbing goings-on that are hidden beneath the surface of a seemingly idyllic village. What’s more, it turns the comical portrayal of the Yiga Clan on its head, reminding the players that they are not simply an incompetent Ganon fan club, but a sinister organization that has no problem hunting innocents that get in the way.

With this unveiled in the first game, it’s very possible that Tears of the Kingdom will dig deeper into the shadows of Hyrule to dredge up the realities of living through the Calamity. The difficulties in rebuilding a kingdom that has faced so much are not to be underestimated, and the destruction that Ganon and his followers wreaked will have trickled into all parts of Hyrulean life. In addition, the mere existence of a second game assures us that a threat is still very much at large — perhaps an even more powerful one — is poised to disrupt any semblance of peace and safety. Calamity Ganon could have been the tip of the iceberg while a disquieting threat beneath the castle lurks, waiting for the right moment to strike.

A Resurgence of Enemies

Breath of the Wild features hoards of monsters, with arguably the most dangerous enemies being the Guardians. Their brute power and persistence have inspired a Pavlovian reaction from players, causing panic whenever they hear the opening notes of the enemy’s theme. However, even these mechanical beasts aren’t truly “scary.”

Early concept art of the Guardians shows that Nintendo had been considering going in a different direction altogether, with the suggestion of colossal monsters resembling bosses you’d expect to find in a Dark Souls game. This would have been a vastly new direction for Zelda to go in with its enemy design –stumbling across one of these in the overworld would be enough to make even the most seasoned players’ blood run cold. Many fans were surprised to discover that these proposals were ever on the table, and some were disappointed that they had not come to fruition.

While these designs wouldn’t fit the established aesthetics of the game, their inclusion in Creating a Champion proposes that they were taken seriously at some point in early development. With that in mind, perhaps there will be new villains in Tears of the Kingdom that share some of those unsettling features while still being angled to fit the game’s art style.

In addition to the possibility of new enemies, there is also an existing pool of past Zelda villains that could be reintroduced to up Tears of the Kingdom‘s creepiness factor. In Looking Back on The Legend of Zelda’s Villains and Enemies, we reflected on some of the more chilling characters that have appeared in past games. Most notorious are ReDeads, Dead Hands, and Gibdos; Breath of the Wild already features a number of staple Zelda monsters, such as Bokoblins and Octoroks, but the question remains whether the sequel will expand on this collection by reintroducing additional past enemies.

And depending on how it connects to previous games, we may even get to see expansions of particular stories or characters. For example, if Tears of the Kingdom draws heavily on Twilight Princess lore, then Shadow Beasts, Shadow Kargaroks, and maybe even Zant the Usurper could be on the table to make a reappearance in the timeline.

Finally, a concept similar to Dark Link was introduced in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. In this game, our heroes faced Malice versions of the Champions, including a Malice Link. The return of evil counterparts to protagonists hints at the potential for something similar in Tears of the Kingdom; it certainly proposes an exciting, dangerous dynamic that could well be worth exploring in a mainline Zelda game.

The evidence so far does point toward Tears of the Kingdom joining the ranks of the darker Zelda games, among titles such as Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess. Between the depths of the lore of previous games and Nintendo’s past successful reimagining of what a Zelda title could be, it seems that something ominous is lurking in Hyrule’s shadows — perhaps inspired by past foes, perhaps like nothing we’ve seen before. Either way, our Hero will discover that there is much darkness left to be sealed.