Could you say he's... a man of legend?
Born in March 16th, 1963 as Eiji Onozuka in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan, Eiji Aonuma has been the overseer of Nintendo's franchise The Legend of Zelda since 1999, though his involvement overall dates from as far back as 1996.In June 2019, shortly before the reveal of Tears of the Kingdom, Aonuma was promoted to Deputy General Manager at Nintendo's Entertainment Planning and Development division. By 2013, Miyamoto had stated in an interview that neither Aonuma nor Koizumi
(who had become the overseer of the Super Mario franchise since 2002) needed his approval or endorsement anymore, commending their crystalized experience. Lastly, in 2023, he would be knighted by the French Minister of Culture as a "Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters".
Career at Nintendo:
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Early work on Zelda
Interestingly, his original occupation wasn't that of a video game programmer, as his expertise was carpentry instead, something he inherited from his family. He studied in the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he aimed to learn about making puppets; after graduating, he applied for a job at Nintendo.His experience with video games, even as a casual player, was very scarce in The '80s — he recalls having been unable to complete The Legend of Zelda and not getting used to the platforming gameplay of the NES Super Mario Bros. games. However, with the help and support of fellow TNUFAM graduate Yōichi Kotabe (the artist who worked on the character designs for Super Mario Bros), Aonuma was presented to Shigeru Miyamoto, who coincidentally had also a background interest in puppetry and acting. He was tasked to work in the department of graphical design for games, starting with NES Open Tournament Golf (the precursor of the Mario Golf series), and it was then when his experience with the medium began to solidify.
His love with the Zelda series began after playing A Link to the Past. The way the game combined the classic action gameplay of its two NES predecessors with a more detailed story and elaborated cutscenes, ignited his interest in making games with strong storytelling. The first game he fully directed was Marvelous: Another Treasure Island for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was only released in Japan in 1996 and was very inspired by the Zelda series. After that game's release, Aonuma was entrusted by Miyamoto to join the level design team for the next grand project of the Nintendo 64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He, with the help of longime Nintendo developer Kenta Usui, went on to provide unique dungeons that would take advantage of the system's capabilities (with a focus on vertical gameplay, thanks to the 3D gameplay), and devised puzzles and events meant to challenge the players every moment.
Aonuma also suggested that the Sages guarding the future-era dungeons (the Temples) should be named after the towns that appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (chronologically the other way around), as he wished to enrich the lore and story of the Zelda mythos, a sentiment shared by fellow programmer Yoshiaki Koizumi. Aonuma also cited The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as an influence for Ocarina of Time, as the felt that the latter would have been vastly different were it not for the Game Boy installment. The game was released to widespread critical acclaim and exceptional sales (7.6 million lifetime-wise), and one of the most praised elements was the dungeons. While one of them, the Water Temple, sparked controversy due to its complexity and difficulty (something even Aonuma himself would apologize for many years later), his work was nonetheless praised by Miyamoto, and as a result he was given the role of main director for the following installment in the series.
His love with the Zelda series began after playing A Link to the Past. The way the game combined the classic action gameplay of its two NES predecessors with a more detailed story and elaborated cutscenes, ignited his interest in making games with strong storytelling. The first game he fully directed was Marvelous: Another Treasure Island for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was only released in Japan in 1996 and was very inspired by the Zelda series. After that game's release, Aonuma was entrusted by Miyamoto to join the level design team for the next grand project of the Nintendo 64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He, with the help of longime Nintendo developer Kenta Usui, went on to provide unique dungeons that would take advantage of the system's capabilities (with a focus on vertical gameplay, thanks to the 3D gameplay), and devised puzzles and events meant to challenge the players every moment.
Aonuma also suggested that the Sages guarding the future-era dungeons (the Temples) should be named after the towns that appeared in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (chronologically the other way around), as he wished to enrich the lore and story of the Zelda mythos, a sentiment shared by fellow programmer Yoshiaki Koizumi. Aonuma also cited The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as an influence for Ocarina of Time, as the felt that the latter would have been vastly different were it not for the Game Boy installment. The game was released to widespread critical acclaim and exceptional sales (7.6 million lifetime-wise), and one of the most praised elements was the dungeons. While one of them, the Water Temple, sparked controversy due to its complexity and difficulty (something even Aonuma himself would apologize for many years later), his work was nonetheless praised by Miyamoto, and as a result he was given the role of main director for the following installment in the series.
Work as a Director
Starting from 1999, plans were discussed for a follow-up for Ocarina of Time. Miyamoto's original intention was to create an enhanced version of Ocarina of Time, but with more challenging dungeons and a greater difficulty overall. However, Aonuma opposed this idea, as he felt there was nothing else to do with Ocarina of Time and wished to work on a newer game instead; Miyamoto allowed him to develop the game, but only gave him one year to complete it. Initially concerned over how this game would be made in that period of time (Ocarina of Time took four years), he asked Yoshiaki Koizumi for advice, and the idea of reusing the engine and assets of the 1998 game was applied to accelerate the development process. Koizumi also brought up the concept of the three-day cycle to implement a more realistic world attached to the flow of time (the original plan was to use a seven-day period, but it was quickly changed). In only 14 months, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was completed, and its release took place in 2000 (April for Japan, October for the Americas and November for Europe). It was met with acclaim from critics, but fans were initially divided over some aspects of it, such as the three-day cycle and the shorter number of dungeons in favor of more optional content (the game would be Vindicated by History several years later). The game's late arrival to the Nintendo 64, plus the requirement of an Expansion Pak, also affected its potential success, selling only 3.6 million units (slightly over half as many as Ocarina of Time). Despite this, Aonuma retained his position as director of the Zelda series, and the development of the next 3D game began.
In 2000, one of the videos shown in that year's Spaceworld event to advertise the then-incoming Nintendo GameCube featured Link and Ganondorf fighting in a sword duel in a throne chamber. While this demo impressed fans and critics, Aonuma and Miyamoto felt that this demo wasn't properly indicative of how the next Zelda game should be, so they encouraged the rest of the team to look forward to a more whimsical graphical style, resulting in a presentation that harkened back to the old-school era of anime, courtesy of another longtime Nintendo artist (Yoshiki Haruhana). This game would be The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, for which Aonuma also aimed to implement a more prominent story that took place after Ocarina of Time, but parallel to the chronology that situated Majora's Mask (in fact, this was the first time Aonuma looked forward to expand upon the series' chronology, as until then it followed a straightforward line). Due to time constraints, imposed by necessity due to the struggling sales of the GameCube and the need to make this game available for the end of 2002 in Japan, Aonuma and Miyamoto had to scrap two dungeons, and tried to compensate this removal with the controversial Triforce hunt. The game was released to critical acclaim, and sold better than Majora's Mask (4.6 million units) but still lower than Ocarina of Time due to the major controversy that the game's art direction caused since its showing, as it had alienated many players who got used to the realistic style of the previous 3D Zelda games and had embraced the pursue of realism during The Sixth Generation of Console Video Games (though, like Majora's Mask beforehand, the game would be Vindicated by History in the following years). Discouraged by this scenario, Aonuma considered stepping down from the Zelda team, but Miyamoto convinced him to stay. Lo and behold, they began to plan the next project.
During the rest of 2003, the idea of a direct sequel to The Wind Waker was entertained, but Aonuma was worried that this game would suffer the same fate as its predecessor in regards of sales, so he asked Miyamoto to switch the art style for a more realistic one in order to appeal to an older audience. Though initially skeptical, Miyamoto accepted under the condition that this new game would contribute new gameplay elements instead of simply focusing on graphics. One of the ideas that were planned for Ocarina of Time, but discarded due to technical challenges, was to combine horsetrack with swordplay. In E3 2004, the reveal trailer of what would be known eventually as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was unveiled, showcasing the aforementioned concept, receiving overwhelming praise and excitement from critics and fans alike. During this time, Aonuma would only work as a producer of the game, since he was also supervising the development of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (made by the same team at Capcom who made both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games and directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi). Upon the release of that game, Aonuma spent full time on the making of Twilight Princess, returning to directorial duties while Miyamoto became the new producer. Twilight Princess was originally planned for a late 2005 release, but it was delayed so more ideas could be implemented. The impending arrival of the Wii led Aonuma and his team to make it available on that system as well, and to facilitate the implementation of motion controls for the latter system's version, the game's overworld was mirrored (this was necessary, as all cutscenes and animations would have needed to be heavily reworked otherwise in each version). The game was finally released in November 2006, frequently advertised as "the true successor to Ocarina of Time", and despite a few criticisms from fans (such as the story's climax and the overall similarities with Ocarina of Time), it was met with critical and commercial success. As of late 2011, Twilight Princess had become the best-selling Zelda game of all time, and won several Game of the Year awards.
In 2000, one of the videos shown in that year's Spaceworld event to advertise the then-incoming Nintendo GameCube featured Link and Ganondorf fighting in a sword duel in a throne chamber. While this demo impressed fans and critics, Aonuma and Miyamoto felt that this demo wasn't properly indicative of how the next Zelda game should be, so they encouraged the rest of the team to look forward to a more whimsical graphical style, resulting in a presentation that harkened back to the old-school era of anime, courtesy of another longtime Nintendo artist (Yoshiki Haruhana). This game would be The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, for which Aonuma also aimed to implement a more prominent story that took place after Ocarina of Time, but parallel to the chronology that situated Majora's Mask (in fact, this was the first time Aonuma looked forward to expand upon the series' chronology, as until then it followed a straightforward line). Due to time constraints, imposed by necessity due to the struggling sales of the GameCube and the need to make this game available for the end of 2002 in Japan, Aonuma and Miyamoto had to scrap two dungeons, and tried to compensate this removal with the controversial Triforce hunt. The game was released to critical acclaim, and sold better than Majora's Mask (4.6 million units) but still lower than Ocarina of Time due to the major controversy that the game's art direction caused since its showing, as it had alienated many players who got used to the realistic style of the previous 3D Zelda games and had embraced the pursue of realism during The Sixth Generation of Console Video Games (though, like Majora's Mask beforehand, the game would be Vindicated by History in the following years). Discouraged by this scenario, Aonuma considered stepping down from the Zelda team, but Miyamoto convinced him to stay. Lo and behold, they began to plan the next project.
During the rest of 2003, the idea of a direct sequel to The Wind Waker was entertained, but Aonuma was worried that this game would suffer the same fate as its predecessor in regards of sales, so he asked Miyamoto to switch the art style for a more realistic one in order to appeal to an older audience. Though initially skeptical, Miyamoto accepted under the condition that this new game would contribute new gameplay elements instead of simply focusing on graphics. One of the ideas that were planned for Ocarina of Time, but discarded due to technical challenges, was to combine horsetrack with swordplay. In E3 2004, the reveal trailer of what would be known eventually as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was unveiled, showcasing the aforementioned concept, receiving overwhelming praise and excitement from critics and fans alike. During this time, Aonuma would only work as a producer of the game, since he was also supervising the development of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (made by the same team at Capcom who made both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games and directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi). Upon the release of that game, Aonuma spent full time on the making of Twilight Princess, returning to directorial duties while Miyamoto became the new producer. Twilight Princess was originally planned for a late 2005 release, but it was delayed so more ideas could be implemented. The impending arrival of the Wii led Aonuma and his team to make it available on that system as well, and to facilitate the implementation of motion controls for the latter system's version, the game's overworld was mirrored (this was necessary, as all cutscenes and animations would have needed to be heavily reworked otherwise in each version). The game was finally released in November 2006, frequently advertised as "the true successor to Ocarina of Time", and despite a few criticisms from fans (such as the story's climax and the overall similarities with Ocarina of Time), it was met with critical and commercial success. As of late 2011, Twilight Princess had become the best-selling Zelda game of all time, and won several Game of the Year awards.
Work as a Producer
Starting from 2007, Aonuma finally stepped down as the director of the series to work as a producer, passing the directorial torch to Daiki Iwamoto for the handheld games (later replaced by Hiromasa Shikata) and to Hidemaro Fujibayashi (who, by then, became a full-time Nintendo employee) for the home console games. By that point, Aonuma felt that the next big step for the franchise would be to overhaul the main conventions, a sentiment shared by Miyamoto (who felt Twilight Princess was "missing something", likely referring to the game still relying on the blueprint laid by Ocarina of Time). This mindset first manifested with the incorporation of the unique control schemes of the Nintendo DS, based on a touch screen interface. During this period, and with the aforementioned vision in mind, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007) and Spirit Tracks (2009) were released. Phantom Hourglas was originally planned to come out in late 2006, but was delayed until the following year for fine-tuning (and likely to avoid self-competition against Twilight Princess).
The next home console installment was Skyward Sword for the Wii. Its planning phase took place since the end of 2006, though it wasn't until the second half of 2007 (after the release of Phantom Hourglass in Japan) when development proper began. However, there were some aspects on the game that Aonuma was initially doubtful about: Would the game benefit from the then-upcoming Wii Motion Plus to make swordplay more precise? Should it make use of orchestrated music? What art style should it aim for? Miyamoto managed to relieve his former two doubts by the end of 2009, with the critical acclaim and commercial success of, respectively, Wii Sports Resort (which provided an efficient showcase of the WM+ accessory, even having it bundled) and Super Mario Galaxy (which managed to incorporate Variable Mix into Orchestral Bombing, as the impossibility of this in prior Nintendo video games was the reason why Koji Kondo had preferred to use MIDI tunes until then); regarding the art style, the developers opted for a hybrid between the cel-shaded engine of The Wind Waker and the textures and proportions of Twilight Princess, leading to a visual reminiscence of impressionistic art (in particular Paul Cézanne, as noted by Miyamoto) that would help developers accommodate the new control scheme by making enemies and their attacks easier to see. Its first public showcase was in E3 2010 but, due to an unfortunate incident caused by wireless interference, many of the actions Miyamoto intended to make in the demo floor were unresponsive; precautions were taken for the next year's E3 showcase, when the public could play the game without trouble. It was released on November 2011 worldwide, garnering critical acclaim, but several factors undermined its commercial success: Its late arrival to the Wii (the Wii U was released the following year), fans' skepticism over motion controls, accusations of linearity and haldholding, and strong competition against other anticipated video games around that time.
During The Eighth Generation of Console Video Games, and well-aware of the divided fan reaction towards the later installments in the series (especially the aforementioned Skyward Sword), Aonuma stated that the following installment would signal a new era for the franchise, longing for a more open-ended experience inspired by games released during that era (such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim). The first hint at this was seen in 2013 with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, in which the majority of dungeons could be visited and completed in any order. Then, in 2014, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was unveiled with a teaser (and still without an official subtitle) showing Link being chased by a technologically advanced machine (a Guardian). Aonuma and his team used the first The Legend of Zelda the NES as a blueprint for this new world (in fact, the would-be overworld was first devised as a 2D map based on the original game). The game was originally planned for 2015 for the Wii U, but Aonuma uploaded a video bringing the news that such a release date was pushed in favor of implementing new ideas and fixing certain technical issues (later confirmed by Miyamoto to be problem with the physics engine). In 2016, due to the commercial failure of the Wii U, the game was delayed once again so it would be released in 2017 there as well as on the impending Nintendo Switch. Upon release, Breath of the Wild entered the Top 5 of most acclaimed video games of all time and achieved impressive sales (clocking at over 20 million units by the end of 2020, and almost 30 million as of 2023), and won several Game of the Year awards (Aonuma and Fujibayashi received one in person during the 2017 Game Awards ceremony, visibly excited).
Aonuma also oversaw the development of all remakes and rereleases of Zelda games produced during The New '10s, and also supervised and provided feedback to Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (both developed by Koei Tecmo). He and Miyamoto also supervised the writing of Hyrule Historia, which was written as part of the series' 25th anniversary and contains several useful notes about the franchise's history, including the official in-universe chronology of the games.
Shortly before the release of Breath of the Wild, Aonuma announced the release of a Season Pass which players could preorder so they could receive upcoming Downloadable Content for the game, making it the first mainline installment to receive such content (and the second overall, following up the Spin-Off Hyrule Warriors). During the development of this extra content, the team was brainstormed with lots of ideas and concepts, so many that they ultimately realized the potential of a full-fledged sequel that would take advantage of them, versus an existing game where they would be merely extras. Thus, after the release of the DLC's two planned waves, the concepts that didn't make the cut were rainchecked until a new game which would take place in the same world of Hyrule as the one designed for Breath of the Wild, and this would also allow the developers to continue from where that game's story left off. The sequel was officially revealed in E3 2019, but went unnamed (it was only known as "the sequel to Breath of the Wild") until September 2022, when it was christened as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, the game was planned to be released on 2022 itself, and much of its production was in the final steps by then, but it was delayed for half a year to fine-tune it and fully playtest it. It was finally released in May 2023 to widespread critical acclaim and strong sales, featuring a more complex storyline, brand-new side plots, new dungeons and bosses, the addition of overworld areas in the sky as well as the underworld, and unique abilities like Fuse and Ultrahand which marked a significant shift in the way the game's world is played through in comparison to Breath of the Wild.
The next home console installment was Skyward Sword for the Wii. Its planning phase took place since the end of 2006, though it wasn't until the second half of 2007 (after the release of Phantom Hourglass in Japan) when development proper began. However, there were some aspects on the game that Aonuma was initially doubtful about: Would the game benefit from the then-upcoming Wii Motion Plus to make swordplay more precise? Should it make use of orchestrated music? What art style should it aim for? Miyamoto managed to relieve his former two doubts by the end of 2009, with the critical acclaim and commercial success of, respectively, Wii Sports Resort (which provided an efficient showcase of the WM+ accessory, even having it bundled) and Super Mario Galaxy (which managed to incorporate Variable Mix into Orchestral Bombing, as the impossibility of this in prior Nintendo video games was the reason why Koji Kondo had preferred to use MIDI tunes until then); regarding the art style, the developers opted for a hybrid between the cel-shaded engine of The Wind Waker and the textures and proportions of Twilight Princess, leading to a visual reminiscence of impressionistic art (in particular Paul Cézanne, as noted by Miyamoto) that would help developers accommodate the new control scheme by making enemies and their attacks easier to see. Its first public showcase was in E3 2010 but, due to an unfortunate incident caused by wireless interference, many of the actions Miyamoto intended to make in the demo floor were unresponsive; precautions were taken for the next year's E3 showcase, when the public could play the game without trouble. It was released on November 2011 worldwide, garnering critical acclaim, but several factors undermined its commercial success: Its late arrival to the Wii (the Wii U was released the following year), fans' skepticism over motion controls, accusations of linearity and haldholding, and strong competition against other anticipated video games around that time.
During The Eighth Generation of Console Video Games, and well-aware of the divided fan reaction towards the later installments in the series (especially the aforementioned Skyward Sword), Aonuma stated that the following installment would signal a new era for the franchise, longing for a more open-ended experience inspired by games released during that era (such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim). The first hint at this was seen in 2013 with The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, in which the majority of dungeons could be visited and completed in any order. Then, in 2014, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was unveiled with a teaser (and still without an official subtitle) showing Link being chased by a technologically advanced machine (a Guardian). Aonuma and his team used the first The Legend of Zelda the NES as a blueprint for this new world (in fact, the would-be overworld was first devised as a 2D map based on the original game). The game was originally planned for 2015 for the Wii U, but Aonuma uploaded a video bringing the news that such a release date was pushed in favor of implementing new ideas and fixing certain technical issues (later confirmed by Miyamoto to be problem with the physics engine). In 2016, due to the commercial failure of the Wii U, the game was delayed once again so it would be released in 2017 there as well as on the impending Nintendo Switch. Upon release, Breath of the Wild entered the Top 5 of most acclaimed video games of all time and achieved impressive sales (clocking at over 20 million units by the end of 2020, and almost 30 million as of 2023), and won several Game of the Year awards (Aonuma and Fujibayashi received one in person during the 2017 Game Awards ceremony, visibly excited).
Aonuma also oversaw the development of all remakes and rereleases of Zelda games produced during The New '10s, and also supervised and provided feedback to Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (both developed by Koei Tecmo). He and Miyamoto also supervised the writing of Hyrule Historia, which was written as part of the series' 25th anniversary and contains several useful notes about the franchise's history, including the official in-universe chronology of the games.
Shortly before the release of Breath of the Wild, Aonuma announced the release of a Season Pass which players could preorder so they could receive upcoming Downloadable Content for the game, making it the first mainline installment to receive such content (and the second overall, following up the Spin-Off Hyrule Warriors). During the development of this extra content, the team was brainstormed with lots of ideas and concepts, so many that they ultimately realized the potential of a full-fledged sequel that would take advantage of them, versus an existing game where they would be merely extras. Thus, after the release of the DLC's two planned waves, the concepts that didn't make the cut were rainchecked until a new game which would take place in the same world of Hyrule as the one designed for Breath of the Wild, and this would also allow the developers to continue from where that game's story left off. The sequel was officially revealed in E3 2019, but went unnamed (it was only known as "the sequel to Breath of the Wild") until September 2022, when it was christened as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, the game was planned to be released on 2022 itself, and much of its production was in the final steps by then, but it was delayed for half a year to fine-tune it and fully playtest it. It was finally released in May 2023 to widespread critical acclaim and strong sales, featuring a more complex storyline, brand-new side plots, new dungeons and bosses, the addition of overworld areas in the sky as well as the underworld, and unique abilities like Fuse and Ultrahand which marked a significant shift in the way the game's world is played through in comparison to Breath of the Wild.
List of games by Eiji Aonuma:
- NES Open Tournament Golf (graphical designer)
- BS Super Mario USA Power Challenge (graphical designer)
- Marvelous: Another Treasure Island (director)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (co-director and dungeon designer)
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (co-director)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (director)
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (producer)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (supervisor)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (director)
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (producer)
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (producer)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (producer)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (producer)
- Hyrule Warriors (supervisor)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (producer)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (producer)
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (supervisor)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (producer)
Tropes present in Aonuma's games, and Trivia invoked by him:
- Approval of God: When Brace Yourself Games approached Nintendo to ask for permission to develop a Zelda-themed Downloadable Content for Crypt of the NecroDancer, Aonuma was very enthusiastic about the idea as he and Miyamoto were already fans of that game. So Nintendo commisioned that company to, instead of just making DLC, develop a full game that would cross over the universe of Crypt with that of The Legend of Zelda, resulting in Cadence of Hyrule.
- Author Appeal: Aonuma stated in an interview that he's fond of the Tsundere archetype, hence why Link is usually accompained by a female (or, rarely, male) character with such traits: Princess Ruto, Tatl, Tetra, Ezlo, Midna, Linebeck, Princess Zelda, Peatrice. All of them, except Zelda in Spirit Tracks, are externally harsh in their personality but sweet internally.
- Canon Discontinuity: In the post-Ocarina games and Zelda media where the history of the series is given a nod, the notorious The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games (which were released one year before Ocarina itself, and by extension Aonuma's first involvement in the franchise, entered its initial development stage) are purposedly left out:
- Collector's Edition, a Compilation Re-release of four classic Zelda games, features a video rewinding all mainline installments in the series. The video's description states that, with the help of the Game Boy Player, "every single game" as of 2003 (and, retroactively, up until 2006), would be playable on the GameCube. This naturally excludes the CD-i games, as they weren't released on any Nintendo system and the Big N prefers things to continue that way.
- In Skyward Sword, Lanayru considers adapting Link's name into the Ancient Robots' nomenclature: LD-Link-16. The number alludes to Skyward Sword being the 16th mainline installment in the franchise, and thus Link's 16th heroic adventure. It would be the 19th if the three CD-i games were acknowledged, but they aren't.
- The book Hyrule Historia, which was released the same year as Skyward Sword (2011) and incorported all flagship games minus spin-offs within the timeline, also left out those games without even mentioning them.
- Finally, in a 2013 interview, Aonuma stated (in a manner of Understatement) that the reason why the CD-i games are absent in the official chronology is because they don't really fit in the franchise. Aonuma even had to remember those games existed in the first place.
- Continuity Porn: Starting with Ocarina of Time (the first Zelda game Aonuma worked on), the games have been more mindful of the overarching continuity in the series. The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess provide numerous nods to Ocarina of Time, including plot points that started in the 1998 game and eventually led to the events of these later games. Spirit Tracks clearly establishes itself as a followup to both The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass with in-game elements, characters and plot points. A Link Between Worlds harkens back to A Link to the Past in both its world design and its lore. Breath of the Wild includes a wide array of references to all previous games in one way or another. And so on.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: We have seen a smart, calculating villain in Ocarina of Time, then a sentient Artifact of Doom who wants to destroy an entire land For the Evulz in Majora's Mask, then a calculating villain turned into Tragic Villain in The Wind Waker, then an eccentric tyrant who got Hijacked by Ganon in Twilight Princess, then a flamboyant (yet dangerous) demon lord aiming to revive a precursory demon in Skyward Sword, and then an entity who has become the very essence of evil itself in Breath of the Wild. And that's just counting the console 3D games. No two Zelda games in a row have ever featured the same kind of Big Bad or Greater-Scope Villain under Aonuma's tenure.
- Creator Backlash: Aonuma apologized for the difficulty of the Water Temple, and one of the priorities for the development of the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time is to improve the pacing of that dungeon. The Iron Boots can now be worn and put away without needing to pause the game, some luminous marks are added to the central room to communicate where the water's level can be changed, and a brief cutscene tells the player where an easily-missable room with a key is located.
- Creator's Favorite: Aonuma stated in an interview that Mipha is his favorite posthumous champion in Breath of the Wild, while Urbosa is the favorite of game director Fujibayashi.
- Creator's Favorite Episode: He has stated that Phantom Hourglass is his favorite Zelda game, as it's a game he personally proposed, and was one of the first major Zelda games he served as a producer on, so it's very sentimental to him. He also stated that Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess are his second and third-favorite, respectively; the former due to it giving him an opportunity to create a 3D world, and the latter due to it being his first attempt to outdo Ocarina of Time.
- Culture Chop Suey: Prior to Ocarina of Time, the overall atmosphere, themes and presentation of the franchise were inspired by the Medieval European Fantasy genre. While Ocarina of Time itself retains the flavor, it also marked the first time when the series implemented elements and tropes that evoke Eastern cultures starting with the Gerudo tribe which displays tropes based on Middle East archetypes like Bedlah Babe and "Arabian Nights" Days. Majora's Mask takes place in a parallel world that embraces a multi-ethnic nexus between tribes (the concept of the Carnival of Time, and the use of masks to celebrate it). The Wind Waker takes place in a setting that borrows many elements from the Golden Age of Piracy, and its soundtrack has a noticeable Celtic influence. Twilight Princess incorporates motifs based on those of the American frontier period between the 17th and early 20th centuries (hence the scenery for Kakariko and Hidden Villages and the Mini-Boss fights against King Bulblin). Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild borrow many archetypes from Japanese mythology and folklore.
- Prolonged Prologue: Starting from Majora's Mask, many games in the series have featured an elaborate tutelary segment before Link is capable of (or allowed to) properly embark on his journey. Save for the early access to Forsaken Fortress in The Wind Waker, this leads to several events occuring before the first dungeon is even unveiled.note This was overhauled in Breath of the Wild, which still has a long prologue but it takes place in a very wide portion of Hyrule (the Great Plateau) that allows Link to learn and discover things on his own.
- Schizo Tech: While the pre-N64 installments had some situational examples of highly advanced technology (such as the Hookshot in A Link to the Past, the telephones in Link's Awakening, or the dungeons' elevators in The Adventure of Link), nearly all games since then have upped the ante with all sorts of machinery, gadgets and advanced architecture that seem to be ahead of the times for the series' high-fantasy flavor. Just to name a few cases:
- Ocarina of Time: The jukebox and neon lights in the Bombchu Bowling Alley. By extension, the invention of the Bombchus themselves.
- Majora's Mask: An industrial design for the Pirates' Fortress, the Great Bay Temple being a futuristic hydraulic plant, a special swimming equipment for one of the Beaver Brothers.
- The Wind Waker: Full-color pictography, an electronic device (the Tingle Tuner), warlike naval ships and wall cannons, electric setups in the Tower of the Gods (including a robotic boss, Gohdan).
- The Minish Cap: Armos Knights being shown to be automatons which Link can turn on or off by entering through them as a Minish, a robotic boss like in The Wind Waker (Mazaal, which looks a lot like Gohdan), and remote-controled bombs.
- Twilight Princess: A Floating Continent that operates through eolic energy, the Spinner (and by extension the ancient setups it can put into work).
- Spirit Tracks: Trains, tanks and hot-air balloons.
- Skyward Sword: The entire Lanayru Province, formerly inhabited by Ancient Robots. Also, the circuitry that makes Beedle's airshop and Fun Fun Island work.
- Breath of the Wild: The ancient Sheikah technology, which led to the conception of the Ancient Guardians, the Shrines, the Sheikah Slate (and by extension the abilities and functions it provides) and the Divine Beasts.
- Tears of the Kingdom: Ancient Zonai tech, including assets and assorted objects that can be assembled for Link to navigate through the land of Hyrule.
- Trolling Creator: Aonuma is less prone to messing with fans' expectations when compared to other developers. But he has had his moments:
- When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was revealed during E3 2014, was asked a question about Link's appearance in the footage. His reply was "No one specifically said that was Link." This, combined with the somewhat feminine appearance of the character in the trailer, spawned loads of Wild Mass Guessing who it could be, whether it be Zelda, Link's sister, a Reincarnation of Link who was female, or some new female character. A day later, Aonuma admitted that he was joking, and that it really was Link in the footage.Aonuma: "It’s not that I said that it wasn't Link. It’s that I never said that it was Link. It’s not really the same thing, but I can understand how it could be taken that way."
- When Aonuma made a presence near the end of a Nintendo Direct in February 2021, he was aware that his presence alone would excite fans longing for news and updates pertaining to the then sequel to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom. So he went on to say that he had nothing from the game to show in that presentation. Aonuma had assured fans in 2020 (during the presentation of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity) that they only needed to wait "a bit longer" for a new preview on the new mainline game, and when delivering the bad news in the later video he used those same words to ask fans for patience. He did promise that information would be presented for real in 2021, and presented a trailer for the remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Switch to compensate the wait:Aonuma: "I'm sure a lot of you saw me and thought there might be news about the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game. Unfortunately, we don't have anything to show right now. We apologize."
- When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was revealed during E3 2014, was asked a question about Link's appearance in the footage. His reply was "No one specifically said that was Link." This, combined with the somewhat feminine appearance of the character in the trailer, spawned loads of Wild Mass Guessing who it could be, whether it be Zelda, Link's sister, a Reincarnation of Link who was female, or some new female character. A day later, Aonuma admitted that he was joking, and that it really was Link in the footage.
- Word of God: During the second half of The 2000s, Aonuma offered himself to numerous interviews to comment on various topics regarding the series, especially during the advent of the famous Iwata Asks interviews by then-president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata:
- He confirmed the then-current state of the series' overarching chronology, including a split in the timeline (which many theorists had already suspected in years prior, this confirmation had unsurprisingly made their day).
- He commented that he was planning to continue working on the Zelda series until the release of a video game that would be considered better than Ocarina of Time. He later stated that Ocarina itself hadn't aged very well (which was erroneously interpreted by fans as him saying that the game wasn't good).
- The idea of implementing trains in Spirit Tracks came from him, inspired by the children's book The Tracks Go On which he once read to his son.
- In one of his interviews prior to the release of Skyward Sword, he confessed having been unable to complete the original Legend of Zelda.
- Somewhat infamously, he said that fan-favorite character Midna (from Twilight Princess) would probably return one day if fans wished. Midna appeared in the Spin-Off Hyrule Warriors and later Super Smash Bros. games (namely 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate), but in regards of mainline Zelda games this never happened.
