Aonuma on writing lines for King of Red Lions in Wind Waker, Zelda’s form, and Tingle

Here’s a bit of trivia that people often forget/are unaware of when it comes to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: series producer Eiji Aonuma actually wrote the lines for the King of Red Lions.

Aonuma’s son had just been born when Wind Waker was in development. This influenced the way he wrote the part for King of Red Lions, as he wanted his son to play the game and therefore ended up writing the role in “a self-important manner that children would understand.”

Aonuma spoke about this topic, Zelda’s form/appearance in the game, and Tingle in a 4Gamer interview. You can find some of these comments below, and even more translated quotes over at Zelda Informer.

4Gamer: Based on what you have said, Wind Waker seems to be a major work in your life.

Eiji Aonuma: Isn’t it? We created it just as my son was born. At that time, I thought that I would like for my son to play this. The lines spoken by the Red Lion King boat that Link rides were written by me. Since I had just become a father, I had him speaking in a self-important manner that children would understand. (laughs).

4Gamer: So at that time, those lines were messages directly from you?

Eiji Aonuma: When you read it again 10 years later, you wonder “What’s this guy trying to say?” (laughs). When I think back to my perceived image of a father figure back then, I’m a little embarrassed. As a result, the dialogue of the Red Lion King became a little more “mild” for the remake. When my son first played it, he felt that he was “too preachy.”

4Gamer: I can’t believe those are the memories you have of those lines. (laughs).

Eiji Aonuma: Also I love the worlds drawn by Miyazaki, Hayao, they excite me in the way that memories of the film “Animal Treasure Island” do. Those images really bring me back to life. Bearing that in mind, Wind Waker captures the essence of an exciting adventure.

4Gamer: Ah, I think I get it.

Eiji Aonuma: In other words, Wind Waker is not your typical Zelda game, it is a story set in the sea. Incidentally even Link feels the same way, that’s because it has a different taste from the rest of the series.

4Gamer: Is Princess Zelda’s form the result of that?

Eiji Aonuma: I believe so. From the beginning, the story has always always been about rescuing Zelda numerous times. So I wanted to have a different spin this time where you rescue your sister in the beginning which overlaps the feeling of rescuing Zelda in the end. At that time, whenever I would present any story to Shigeru Miyamoto, I would do so with my head down. (laughs)

4Gamer: What? Really? (laughs)

Eiji Aonuma: From the get go, whenever I spoke to Miyamoto, “Is that Zelda?” is the kind of response from him I was aiming for. As a result, the art, story, and characters became completely different. Additionally, many people who played it at that time were saying “It’s completely different from what I expected.”

4Gamer: In order to use the Tingle Bottle feature you need to have encountered Tingle in an event sequence.

Eiji Aonuma: That’s right. Tingle is one of the those characters you either love or hate. You do have reason to be thankful for him due to the map deciphering and the Tingle Bottle, but meeting him proves to be valuable.

4Gamer: So do you like Tingle?

Eiji Aonuma: I don’t hate him (laughs). The Zelda series has many assertive characters as well as some difficult ones.

4Gamer: Tingle really fits the art style of Wind Waker.

Eiji Aonuma: That is even the case in the manga. In Twilight Princess there is a character like Tingle. I wonder what everyone thought about him? (laughs).

4Gamer: He had his ups and downs. Speaking of which, who is Tingle based on?

Eiji Aonuma: Basically, there is no model for him, but I have heard that our designer once had a friend named Tingle long ago. (laughs).