The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 2017 video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. Part of the Legend of Zelda series, his story happens in a place of the timeline long after any other installments of the series.

As usual, Link wakes up at the beginning of the game. This time however, he seems to wake up in a kind of hibernation chamber. And when he goes outside of the cave where the chamber was, he discovers something bad happened to Hyrule. Apparently, 100 years ago, an entity known as Calamity Ganon devastated the kingdom of Hyrule. It has been contained inside Hyrule Castle, but the time for his escape approaches. Guided by a disembodied voice, Link decides to go towards the castle.

A sequel was announced at E3 2019, titled The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and after a lot of Development Hell due to the COVID outbreak, it was released in May of 2023. Watch the trailer here.

Because this game was released after the release of the Hyrule Historia, it's place in the overall timeline is debatable. The most likely theories is that it is a continuation of the "Failure Timeline" or that it is a reunification of all three timelines; if either is true, however, this game occurs thousands of years afterwards. Another theory brought up after the release of Tears of the Kingdom is that this game occurs during the original timeline before the branching of the timelines, putting it several millennia after The Minish Cap and at least several decades before Four Swords.

Tropes used in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild include:
  • Ambiguously Evil: It's not apparent at first, but Beedle has a surprisingly sinister side to him. If he realizes that you've got a beetle on you and you refuse to give it to him, he becomes uncharacteristically cranky and growls with rage. And if you refuse to give him an Energetic Rhino Beetle, he'll mumble something about hiring someone to steal it from you when your back is turned. Nothing happens of course, but the fact that it's hard to tell if this is just petulant anger or a statement of genuine malice is actually somewhat scary.
  • Ambiguous Situation: The game's placement on the official Zelda timeline is intentionally left vague so the devs can do what they want without having to be constrained by canon. It can potentially be very late into any of the three timelines, and that's if you don't subscribe to the theory that it's actually where all timelines merge back into one.
  • Amnesiac Hero: Link wakes up barely remembering anything other than his mission, but gains bits and pieces of his memories during the story.
  • And 99 Cents: Kilton's wares are priced in this manner.
  • Apocalypse How: Class 0, but Calamity Ganon wants to make it Class 4, if not even worse.
    • Apocalypse Not: The individual towns of Hyrule seems to be managing okay - for now - despite the disaster. However, they're few and far between, and it's clear looking at the various ruins laying around that Hyrule's nowhere near as prosperous as it once was.
  • Assist Character: In order to immobilize and board each Divine Beast, Link works with a partner:
    • For Vah Ruta, Link must ride on Sidon’s back until an opening appears, then use his own skills to disable the switches on Ruta's sides by swimming up the waterfalls and shooting them with Shock Arrows.
    • For Vah Rudania, Link must use the cannons found on the rim of Death Mountain to launch Yunobo Human Cannonball style, destroying the sentries and damaging Rudania enough to halt it.
    • To stop Vah Naboris, Link “surfs” behind Riju and her Sand Seal, in order to hit each of the mecha’s legs with Bomb Arrows.
    • For Vah Medoh, Teba flies Link to the altitude needed for him to pelt the shield generators with Bomb Arrows, although he doesn’t do much after that except shout encouragement.
    • For the Final Battle with Dark Beast Ganon, Zelda herself becomes this, while you cannot see her, you can hear her voice, and after giving Link the Bow of Light, creates glowing sigils to show Link where to shoot it.
  • Attractive Bent Gender: Link's feminine good looks make him a very convincing woman when he crossdresses, and several oblivious men fall head over heels in love with him when he talks to them. Vilia also passes for an attractive Gerudo woman... until you get a peek under his veil.
  • Awesome But Impractical: You can surf down hills and mountains on your shield. It sounds like fun, except that it does a serious number on its durability and will lead to it breaking a lot faster than if you saved it for blocking attacks.
    • Royal Guard weapons are some of the strongest in the game thanks to their ridiculous damage output... but for some ungodly reason, their durability is on par with that of the incredibly weak Bokoblin weapons, so it's usually best not to bother with them since they break really fast.
    • Downplayed with Ancient Arrows: they're incredibly useful for getting Lynels and Silver/Gold enemies off your back. But if you want the gear and items they drop upon dying, you'll have to save them because enemies killed by Ancient Arrows won't drop anything.
  • Baby Got Back: Zelda has a big butt, and the tight pants she wears are incredibly flattering.
  • Back from the Dead:
    • Implied by the name of the shrine where Link was sleeping, “Shrine of Resurrection”, though Purah affirms he was only seriously wounded, averting the trope.
    • During the Blood Moon, Calamity Ganon resurrects enemies slain by Link so they can try to kill him again.
  • Badass Grandpa:
    • Bludo's a crotchety old Goron who regularly fights Vah Rudania and drives it off when it arrives to cause trouble. Unfortunately, his old age is catching up to him, and his bad back prevents him from fighting it when you show up at Goron City. There's also Pikango of the Sheikah who isn't a fighter, but pulls off some seriously impressive globe-trotting feats.
    • Maz Koshia is this to the extreme: he's over 10,000 years old and fights like a spry young man.
  • Badass Normal: Link and Revali are this among the Champions. Urbosa, Mipha, and Daruk were born with their special abilities, but Revali had to create Revali's Gale himself. Even without it, he's a great flier and godlike archer. Likewise, Link doesn't have any special abilities of his own, but his strength and determination to protect the innocent make him a borderline Physical God on the battlefield.
  • Badass Princess: Zelda has fit the Trope before, but this is, without a doubt, the most badass version yet. She's been fighting Ganon nonstop for the past 100 years! Mipha also deserves a mention, as she's great with a spear and capable of some seriously cool acrobatic feats while swimming.
  • Bad Moon Rising: The moon turns red when Calamity Ganon's power rises to its peak. During that time, known as "Blood Moon", the enemies who Link have slain are raised from the dead to fight for Ganon, between other nasty side effects.
  • Bare Your Midriff: All Gerudo show off their bellies, whether they're adorable children, attractive young women, or withered-looking old ladies. There's also Kiana, a minor NPC from Lurelin Village as well as the Great Fairies, who also show some midriff despite their thicker builds. And finally, Link can also get in on this by wearing a Gerudo outfit to infiltrate Gerudo Town.
  • Bat Out of Hell: Keese as usual, which are now one-eyed bat monsters that can swarm Link in massive flocks. They also come in different elemental flavors for extra annoyance.
  • Bears are Bad News: Bears are among the rarest wild animals, and for good reason. They're insanely strong, have tons of health, and can ruin Link's day in a hurry should you be unfortunate enough to run into one in the earlygame.
  • Beat Still My Heart: Monster Guts of all kinds will throb and pulsate long after the death of their owners.
  • Bee Afraid: They're not incredibly strong, but Courser Bees can be a real nuisance if you want their honey. Luckily, you can sic them on your enemies by shooting down a beehive that's close to them, resulting in the hapless monsters running for their lives as they're chased by the angry swarm.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: It's easy to see Magda (the Crazy Flower Lady) as comic relief, but don't forget, making her angry costs Link three hearts from his Life Meter, something that he might not be able to spare. The Yiga Clan are also dangerous assassins who are not to be underestimated despite their silly quirks. Just ask Dorian and his late wife.
  • Big Freaking Sword: Two-handed swords like the Royal Claymore and Great Flameblade are this by default. Fireblight Ganon's sword is also incredibly big.
  • Big Bad: Ganon as usual, but this time as Calamity Ganon, a creature described as "Hatred and Malice incarnate" that threatens to overwhelm the world unless Link stops it in time.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: While the Yiga Clan are genuinely dangerous, it's hard to take them even the slightest bit seriously thanks to how much of a clown Kohga is. The man accidentally kills himself with his own attack, for goodness sake!
  • Big Beautiful Man: There's no telling what Kohga looks like under his mask, but his female followers certainly think he's a dreamboat. Daruk and Yunobo are also surprisingly hunky for Gorons, with the former looking like he stepped out of a Bara Genre manga while the latter comes off as his species' equivalent to a Bishounen.
  • Big Beautiful Woman: The Great Fairies, who are very thickly built and absolutely stunning. Also, middle-aged Gerudo collectively sport something of an "ex-jock" gut, but are still quite attractive despite their weathered, aged faces.
  • Big Fun: As usual, Gorons as a whole skew towards being fun and jolly souls. Daruk in particular is an enthusiastic brawler who treats Link like a beloved little brother.
  • Bigger Bad: It is implied that Calamity Ganon is an embodiment of the sheer hate resulting from the curse bestowed by Demon King Demise (from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) making him the one ultimately responsible for Hyrule's current state.
  • Bleak Level: Hyrule Castle, a beloved series landmark that has been reduced to a crumbling ruin tainted by Malice and infested with dangerous monsters.
  • Blob Monster: Chuchus, living blobs of goo that will try to leap at Link to hurt him.
  • Bloodless Carnage: To a cartoonish level: if Link kills a normal animal, the animal puffs and turns into a piece of meat.
  • Boom! Headshot!: Monsters take a lot more damage if you shoot them in the head, and most animals will die outright with a single headshot.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing:
    • Guardian Scouts are usually as weak as their small builds would suggest, but the ones in the Tests of Strength can take a lot more punishment and hit way harder. You better hope you don't accidentally wander into a Major (or even Moderate) Test of Strength early into the game, because the Guardians in charge of those are full-on Marathon Bosses that will outlast practically all your fragile weapons before forcing you to solely rely on your bombs and their Scratch Damage to hurt them with.
    • Lynels are very technically enemies, with color-based power scaling like the much weaker Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos, and they don't have the visible names or gigantic health bars that bosses have. They're still much tougher than said bosses and the strongest versions have health on par with Calamity Ganon himself.
    • Silver and Gold enemies are ridiculously tanky in general and take a lot of punishment before falling.
  • Boss Rush: If you go fight Calamity Ganon before you've defeated all the Blight Ganons, the ones you haven't killed will fight you one after another right before him, with no breaks in between battles. Don't kill any, and you're left facing a brutal six-boss gauntlet that will be hell on your weapon stash.
  • Breakable Weapons: One of the game's selling points is that nearly every weapon and shield that you collect will eventually shatter after an certain number of uses (and even immediately in some cases, for example if a shield is subjected to a more powerful attack than it can withstand).
  • Breather Episode: The Vah Rudania arc is considerably less dark and tragic than the other Divine Beast arcs. Compared to the downright apocalyptic Ruta and Naboris or oppressive Medoh, Rudania is more of an annoyance that gets in the Gorons' way when they try to mine, and can easily be driven away by just a few of them. The Gorons as a whole are also quite the warm and friendly race, and when Daruk's spirit is freed from Fireblight Ganon's clutches, what follows is a bonafide Crowning Moment of Heartwarming between him and Yunobo as opposed to the bittersweet moments of reflection from the other Champions.
  • Bullet Time:
    • Drawing your bow while you're in the air will slow down time to a snail's pace so you can easily aim your arrows. This will quickly drain your stamina, though.
    • A similar effect occurs when you dodge an enemy's attack at the right moment, enabling you to hit your opponent multiple times in the span of a few seconds.
  • Bus Crash: Several divine creatures make appearances years after their games of origin, but as skeletal remains that can be found in remote areas across Hyrule.
    • The Wind Fish appears as Gerudo Valley's Great Skeleton, and is theorized to have died due to somehow becoming trapped in the desert and succumbing to its harsh environment.
    • The Hebra Great Skeleton is either the Ocean King or Lord Jabu-Jabu. No matter who it is, they're theorized to have died in a freak ice age.
    • And the Eldin Great Skeleton is a dead-ringer for Levias, who likely died by getting caught in a past volcanic eruption given the skeleton's close proximity to Death Mountain.
  • Came Back Strong: Slay an entire camp's worth of Bokoblins, Moblins, or Lizalfos, and when the Blood Moon respawns them, one of a group might be the stronger, silver type. This can happen to Lynels too.
  • Camp Gay: Bolson is a mix of this and Manly Gay: he's flamboyant, swishy, flirts with Link, and wears pink clothes and lipstick. However, he's also a carpenter who loves throwing himself at intense physical labor, and goes all-in with the Hot-Blooded shouting when he and his men get to work.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Link has to go all way back to the beginning of a path towards a certain shrine if he damages the flowers surrounding it. Even if the damage happens accidentally, like while fighting an enemy. He'll also be thrown out of Gerudo Town the second he changes out of his disguise. And no, it doesn't matter if he's in a highly secluded area where no one can see him: the town guards must have very specific psychic powers that let them bust men who infiltrated the town or something.
  • Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: Played straight, despite the generally increased realism compared to previous Zelda games.
  • Charged Attack:
    • As last resort strategy, Shrine Guardians will charge up an attack that leads to them firing four consecutive laser beams at Link.
    • Link himself does this when he uses Revali's Gale and Urbosa's Fury, techniques that require charging for a few seconds before unleashing them his foes.
  • Chubby Chaser: A random Yiga encounter has you talking to a female assassin who's smitten with Master Kohga and his "cute, poochy tummy". If you have Link tell her that "he has a dumb belly", she is not amused.
  • Continuity Nod: During a ceremony, Zelda makes references to others Links' lives:

Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the hero...

  • Contrived Coincidence: As per Bolson Construction guidelines, Hudson can't employ people at Tarrey Town unless their names happen to end in -son. He must be the luckiest man alive, because there are several members of each race spread across Hyrule who just happen to have names that end in -son and are skilled at the craft Hudson needs their help with.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: A rare case of a video game where this is averted. Link cannot survive the superheated air in the Eldin area without magical protection (either potions or special armor) and any combustible items he carries burn quickly. The closer he is to the source of the heat, the more protection he needs. The in-game thermometer can't even measure the temperature there and just reads “Error”. Bomb Arrows will also blow up in Link's face if he tries to use them there.
  • Cool Horse: Most of the horses Link can tame are typical, but some stand out, like Zelda's gorgeous White Horse, and the Giant Horse, believed to be a descendant of Ganondorf's own mighty steed. and of course, the divine Lord of the Mountain, which you can tame, but not keep.
    • Hellish Horse: Link can tame the undead Stalhorses that only appear at night; you can't register them at stables, but it's kind of cool, especially when you have Link wear the Radiant Armor to make him look undead.
    • Horse of a Different Color: Link can tame and ride bears, deers, elks, or pretty much anything he can mount. While kind of cool, these mounts are slower and cannot sprint.
  • Cool Old Guy: The Old Man living on the Great Plateau, who is kind and helpful towards the newly awakened Link, albeit with some trollish tendencies. It's a facade for his true identity as the ghost of King Roahm, who is a somber and regretful old man haunted by his failure to protect Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. He's still cool, but definitely not the fun old guy he presented himself as.
  • Cool Sword: The Master Sword, of course, but there are others, like the Ancient Bladesaw. It's a freakin' chainsaw that Link uses like a sword!
  • Cordon Bleugh Chef: Purposely subverted. Link can cook some pretty potent Power-Up Food when he follows his recipes, but if he tries to cook ingredients that obviously shouldn't go together, like put bat wings in with apples and rice, all he'll get is a barely edible mess. Putting more than one stat enhancing ingredient in one dish will likely ruin it too.
  • Creepy Crossdresser: To get into Gerudo Town, Link has to get a set of Gerudo clothes from a man known to have infiltrated the city. Said man, Vilia, is heavily implied to be a creepy pervert with a love of crossdressing, and when Link gets a look at his face beneath his veil, he's sporting a very manly-looking jawline. Cue Link's hilariously squicked out reaction.
  • Darkest Hour: Shown as history, the battle a hundred years ago which ended with Ganon winning. The literal darkest hour is shown via cutscene as a recovered Memory, complete with a Hope Spot.
  • Dark Is Evil: Unsurprisingly, becoming a swirling mass of dark Malice energy hasn't made Ganon a single bit nicer.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Downplayed with the Horned Statue. He truly is a dark and demonic being who isn't above stealing people's life energy unprompted to force them into a bargain, but he's more than happy to give it back, and bargaining with him doesn't lead to any adverse effects for Link which makes him a reliable ally for players interested in a three heart run, among other challenges.
  • Dead All Along: The Old Man in the Great Plateau is a dead king. More exactly, King Rhoam of Hyrule. And unlike Zelda, none of the four Champions survived into the present day.
  • Deal with the Devil: What got the entity inside the Horned Statue an eternity of imprisonment by the goddess Hylia; she didn't like him making outrageous deals like exchanging life for money, or the reverse.
  • Death Mountain: The trope namer returns, this time being so hot that without proper protection, Link will burst into flames and burn to death in seconds. And even while he's flame resistant, he's still having quite a miserable time thanks to the unbearable heat.
  • Dem Bones: The Stalkoblin, Stalizalfos and Stalmoblin are reanimated corpses (of a Bokoblin, Lizalfos and Moblin respectively) made entirely of bone, without one piece of flesh visible. There's also the Stalnox, which are undead Hinoxes, as well as rare Skeleton Horses you can ride until the sun rises.
  • Didn't Think This Through: The inn and shops in Goron City were intended for tourists, not exactly the best idea since most non-Gorons can't survive living there. Still, they're useful for Link.
  • Disc One Nuke: Hyrule Castle is an armory of these. You can go there as soon as you leave the Great Plateau, and if you're careful enough you can walk out with a ton of powerful endgame weapons that trivialize your early battles while they last. You can also get the Hyrule Shield there, which is the best shield in the game and ridiculously durable, making it perfect for practicing your parries against Guardians.
    • If you have the DLC installed, the Phantom Armor can be found incredibly early if you don't mind exploring the hostile Guardian-infested Hyrule Field and going toe-to-toe with a Lynel. While it can't be upgraded, 24 defense in total isn't too shabby for most of the game, and its set bonus (a 50% attack boost) means that you'll be hitting hard. And that's before you crank up your attack further with a bunch of cooked meals.
    • Majora's Mask from the same line of DLC outfits is an odd pacifistic example: it won't help you efficiently kill monsters faster, but it does allow you to infiltrate Bokoblin/Moblin/Lizalfos camps and steal weapons, shields, and other gear without them bothering you. You can get it a lot earlier than Kilton's monster masks, which allow you to do the same thing, but only with specific monsters while Majora's Mask is more of an all-purpose tool.
  • Disguised in Drag: In order to do anything in Gerudo Town, Link has to dress as a woman, wearing something that looks like a harem girl outfit; he's clearly embarrassed the first time he does it. Oddly, several Gerudo catch on fast to this disguise - including Princess Riju and her Number Two - but they still insist it's necessary.
  • Draconic Demon:
    • Artistic depictions of Calamity Ganon from the first battle with him 10,000 years ago show him looking like an evil, dark colored Eastern dragon. Which is odd, because while he does look vaguely draconic as he twists and coils around Hyrule Castle, his usual boar motif is a lot more apparent.
    • The normally benevolent Naydra is turned into one of these due to being corrupted by Calamity Ganon's Malice. She's still peaceful and goes out of her way to isolate herself in the mountains so she can't hurt anyone, but she still looks horrific thanks to the poxlike corruption clinging to her body.
  • Draconic Divinity: While they aren't important to the plot outside of each unlocking an optional shrine, Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra are mysterious, majestic Eastern dragons that are implied to have a connection to the near-forgotten Golden Goddesses that created Hyrule. Encountering even just one of these creatures and watching them fly peacefully through the Hylian sky is a breathtaking moment that you won't soon forget, especially when their encounters are set to this calming, beautiful melody.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Kilton sells Bokoblin, Moblin, Lizalfos, and Lynel masks that you can use to disguise yourself as each monster. Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos will be totally fooled and won't attack as long as you don't hurt them or get exposed by another monster. Lynels however are only fooled for a short amount of time, and will eventually attack if you hang around them for too long. The DLC would later add Majora's Mask which is basically all four of those masks combined into one, making it the perfect all-purpose disguise.
  • Early Game Hell: Things get better once you start finding reliable weapons and equipment, but your start is not an easy one. Even the weakest red Bokoblins with flimsy equipment will hit incredibly hard, and depending on where you go you can run into nasty creatures like stronger blue and black enemies, Wizzrobes, Guardians, and Lynels well before you're ready to face them. Naturally, Master Mode ramps this Up to 11 by making all but one red enemy of each race blue, as well as adding a Black Lynel to the Great Plateau.
  • Easy Level Trick:
    • Escorting Yunobo towards the cannons during the attack on Vah Rudania becomes a lot less annoying if you have him wait, run ahead, and kill every enemy in the way before letting him follow you again.
    • Eventide Isle is meant to be a challenge that tests your resourcefulness by stripping you of all your gear when you arrive, forcing you to scavenge gear so you can raise the local Sheikah Shrine... or you could just drop some good clothes, weapons, and food on the raft to the island, let the cutscene play, then laugh all the way to the bank as you slaughter your way through the monsters roaming the island with the equipment that you pick back up.
    • You're supposed to get to Zora's Domain by enduring a brutal gauntlet of Shock Arrow-wielding monsters on a long, winding path during a rainstorm. But with some patience and Revali's Gale, you can enter the Domain through the back by traveling down from Akkala and thus avoid the Shock Monster gauntlet from hell. You even get a special cutscene if you pull it off!
    • Hyrule Castle is a daunting multi-floor dungeon infested with Guardians and high-level monsters. But if you have any Zora armor on hand, you can zip up the conveniently-placed waterfalls outside and defang a good 95% of the level's challenge right then and there. Revali's Gale has a similar effect, but the Guardian Turrets have a better chance of sniping you that way.
    • Infiltrating the Yiga Clan hideout is stressful as hell because it's a forced stealth sequence in a game that doesn't revolve around stealth, and getting caught will cause Yiga Blademasters who will kill you in one hit to come after you in full force. But if you hoard a few Ancient Arrows, you can go on a Blademaster killing spree and turn That One Level into a walk in the park.
    • Upgrade your Flamebreaker or Rubber Armor twice, and laugh all the way to the bank when you can't be damaged by fire or electric obstacles that are meant to challenge you.
    • If you know how to create a shock trap (drop an electric weapon mid-swing, drop metal weapons onto it to create an electric current), you can stunlock an imposing Guardian Scout IV to death by tricking it into getting too close. It takes a while to die, but it can't do anything to you.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Ganon does not even remotely resemble a human in this game, and has long been stuck in the form of a vaguely boar-shaped cloud of Malice called Calamity Ganon. When you fight him, his physical form is that of a grotesque, multi-limbed creature that straddles the line between "zombified corpse that vaguely looks like Ganondorf" and "mechanical insectoid monstrosity", while his second is a Kaiju-sized boar made of Malice and concentrated hatred for life itself. No matter the form though, just existing creates dangerous Malice, a type of miasma that corrupts anything it touches, including machinery such as the Guardians.
    • Satori, the Lord of the Mountain is a spectral... thing that is not of this world, and is a divine creature that looks like a horse with the faces of two owls and the antennae of a moth. People respect and fear him, with stable handlers refusing to board him out of fear of being cursed in retribution, but he's an entirely benevolent creature to Link and can serve as a temporary mount if you tame him.
    • The spirit dragons are Eastern dragons that follow the usual stereotypes: they're divine in nature, serpentine, fly gracefully through the skies, and can bestow incredible gifts upon mortal kind. However, their moose-like faces are seriously weird, and being in close vicinity of them is extremely dangerous because of the elemental energy leaking from their bodies. And just in case that wasn't weird and otherworldly enough, after flying around for long enough, they'll disappear into a portal in the sky that opens out of nowhere and quickly closes after them.
  • Elite Mook: Moblins are bigger, stronger, and sturdier than their weaker Bokoblin brethren, and Lynels are far stronger than even them to the point of being extremely dangerous Bosses in Mook Clothing. Yiga Swordsmen are also a hell of a lot tougher than the rank-and-file assassins, especially the ones encountered when you infiltrate their hideout since they can instantly kill Link while bypassing any safeguards he has. And yes, that includes the fairies and Mipha's Grace.
  • Everything's Worse with Wolves: Instead of using the Wolfos from past Zelda games, Breath of the Wild has normal wolves that will stalk Link and attack in packs. Luckily they're weak and cowardly: drop one with a well-placed arrow or bomb, and the rest will hightail it out of there.
  • Evil Redhead: Calamity Ganon's first form is sporting Ganondorf's red hair, but growing wildly to emphasize his feral state of mind. Red-Maned Lynels also invoke this with their... well, red lion manes.
  • Exposed to the Elements: Again, averted. Link needs warm clothing or magic (or to be carrying a lit torch or have a flame weapon equipped) to survive blizzards and high altitudes, and the colder it is, the more protection he needs. Similarly, surviving the heat of Gerudo Desert during daytime requires cool clothing or magic (or to have an ice weapon equipped), and the hottest temperatures require twice the protection. Oddly, fireproof clothing and elixirs provide no protection from the desert heat.
  • Fantastic Racism: Most elderly Zora hate Hylians, and blame them for the Calamity as well as Mipha's death. So when Link visits the one place in Hyrule full of people who remember him, they refuse to give him a warm welcome and make it clear that they wish he died instead of Mipha.
  • Fat Bastard: Unlike their buff incarnations in past games, Breath of the Wild's Hinoxes are grotesquely fat. The leader of the Yiga Clan, Master Kohga, is also quite paunchy.
  • Feed It a Bomb: Crops up a few times in true Zelda fashion. This is a good way to defeat Rock Octoroks and Moldugas, and it will make Fireblight Ganon vulnerable to your attacks during its second phase.
  • Fingerless Gloves: Zelda wears them, apparently only because it looks cool.
  • Flash of Pain: Not only does Link flash red while low on health (and when hit), his weapons and shields also do so (on the inventory screen) when close to breaking.
  • Full Boar Action: Wild boar are among the wild game you can hunt, and if you get too close they'll charge and knock you on your ass before making a break for it. Calamity Ganon keeps his boar motif from past games, and he shows off some seriously scary tusks when Link first sees him coiling around Hyrule Castle.
  • Full Set Bonus: Each style of armor consists of a helmet, top, and pants; while each piece gives Link some benefit alone, additional pieces of the same armor increase the benefit, and sometimes the full set gives Link an additional boon. For instance, one or two pieces of Snowquill armor gives Link some resistance to cold, but all three makes him impervious to attacks that cause Freezing.
    • Most sets require that the Great Fairies upgrade every part at least twice to deliver the bonus, though; the exceptions are those sets which cannot be upgraded, in which case the bonus is available immediately.
    • The Radiant outfit is a peculiar case, its set bonuses being the only physical effects it provides. The same goes for the Gerudo outfit (which is also non-upgradable).
  • Generic Doomsday Villain: Deliberately invoked with Calamity Ganon. Thanks to being overwhelmed with evil energy, the formerly cunning King of Evil has degraded into a feral, animalistic mass of Malice that is fueled only by his hatred for Hyrule and bloodlust. He's less of a character and more of an apocalypse given form, and that makes him even scarier when you see the way the Malice seeping from his body has corrupted everything its touched. Being extensions of his power, the Blight Ganons are also lacking in personality beyond "Grawr kill everything!"
  • Gentle Giant: The spirit dragons are imposing at first thanks to their titanic size, but they're peaceful creatures that will serenely fly by, and don't care about Link shooting at them for their parts.
  • "Get Back Here!" Boss: A variant. When Link first meets Naydra, the dragon is covered with Malice that is attempting to corrupt her. Link has to chase after Naydra using the Glider and fire arrows at specific parts of the Malice to purge it and free Naydra.
  • Go for the Eye: Hinoxes and Stalnoxes, but they will cover it if Link deals too much damage.
    • Also a good way to fight Guardians, as hitting the eye with an arrow will stun it, but attacking the legs - if it has them - does even more damage.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Revali is egotistical, arrogant, and often rude, often pushing the limits of what can be called "Good", even if he is on your side. Buliara is also very hostile towards Link and quick to anger, but she's a good person and merely a bodyguard that takes her duty very seriously. Not to mention the Gerudo City Guards; yeah, men aren't allowed, but do they seriously have to be so rude about it?
  • Green-Eyed Monster: The reason Revali acts like such a jerk towards Link; he's really upset he has to act like a "sidekick" and was not the appointed Hero.
  • Green Hill Zone: The Great Plateau, which is the game's starting area and a peaceful swathe of green meadows and forests that ease you into the game.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: When Moblins are found with Bokoblins, the former will sometimes throw the latter at Link!
    • Most weapons won't work on Pebblits, but Link can pick one up and throw it at other Pebblits.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: Link can be standing right in front of the guards blocking the entrance to Gerudo Town and change into his Gerudo Vai outfit, and they'll still mistake him for a woman and let him in. This doesn't change even if you've just been thrown out of town for changing out of it. Not to mention that no matter how many times they catch him and throw him out, they let him go with a warning. You'd think they'd have some way to deal with repeat offenders.
    • The Yiga Blademasters patrolling the Yiga Clan hideout will immediately abandon their post and happily skip towards any Mighty Bananas you drop as bait, allowing you to either sneak up on and kill them, or slip by undetected.
  • Hailfire Peaks: Mostly averted given the game's preference for realistic biomes, but the two adjacent Gerudo territories are wildly different in terms of climate: Gerudo Desert is, as the name would imply, a scorching hot desert (during the day) while the Gerudo Highlands are frigid snowy mountains. In some places, you can take one step over the boundary between the two and experience some ridiculous temperature spikes.
  • Hand Cannon: Windblight Ganon has an impressive laser gun in place of its right hand.
  • Happily Married: Kass is usually away from his family and traveling the world, but he's still in a loving relationship with his wife, who he's had five kids with.
  • Healing Hands: Mipha's special ability is to be able to heal wounds through magic.
  • Heroic Mime: While this is the first Zelda game to have voice actors, Link, as always, remains silent. This is emphasized in one scene where Urbosa asks him a question, but he does not vocally answer, and she says, "Yes, your silence speaks volumes."
  • Hero of Another Story: All four of the Champions qualify, each having gained heroic prestige among their own peoples long before meeting Link.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The easiest way of taking down a Guardian is parrying their attack with a shield, reflecting their energy beam attack back on them. Master Kohga also accidentally kills himself when one of his giant metal balls chases him down the bottomless pit in the middle of his room.
  • Hot Amazon: The Gerudo in this game are just as scantily clad and attractive as the ones in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but are also incredibly muscular and fit.
  • Hot Mom: Kiana of Lurelin Village, a full-figured mother of two who's very pretty and shows off a healthy amount of midriff. Teba's wife Saki is also a very pretty Rito.
  • Humongous Mecha: The Divine Beasts are robots constructed to fight Ganon, and can be controlled by a dedicated pilot.
  • An Ice Person:
    • Some monsters come in icy varieties, and will freeze Link with their attacks. Fittingly, you mostly find them at the top of mountains or other snowy areas, though a few Ice Wizzrobes can be seen bouncing around Death Mountain of all places.
    • Divine Beast Vah Ruta uses ice objects it creates to attack Link and Sidon. Waterblight Ganon can also use this power, and will launch icy projectiles at Link during its boss fight.
  • Implacable Man: When Calamity Ganon turns to Dark Beast Ganon, Link ends up outdoors, with Zelda's horse nearby. But, if you think this is a good opportunity to fall back and plan, think again. There is literally nowhere in Hyrule where Ganon cannot follow. The best bet is to use Zelda's bow and finish the fight then and there.
  • Improvised Weapon: Link can use wooden sticks as weapons. Later, he can use soup ladles like swords, brooms and pitchforks like spears, hoes like axes, and pot lids as shields.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun:
    • Link can make a few sealy puns when asking about the Sand Seals in Gerudo Town.
      • Riju's Sand Seal, Patricia, incorporates them into her words of wisdom; but Padda spares Link the pain of most of them. (It's not hard to figure out what they were going to be, though.)
    • Sayge, the dye shop owner, also gets quite “colorful”.
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: There are three dragons in Hyrule; Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra. All three divine beings of unearthly beauty with godlike power who harness the elemental forces. Simply getting close to them is dangerous, as their auras can crush Link quickly if he doesn't have proper protection. "Awesome" doesn't begin to describe them.
  • It Can Think:
    • Humanoid enemies display a surprising amount of intelligence when you fight them. Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos alike all know that wooden weapons get stronger when they're set on fire, so if they see you they'll stick theirs in a fireplace for a free damage boost. They also know to kite you if you try to shoot them with arrows, and will either walk around or kick away any bombs you throw at them. And if Bokoblins and Moblins don't have a way to hit you from where they are, they'll throw whatever they can find at you, which is usually rocks, barrels, or in the case of Moblins, other Bokoblins. Even Hinoxes, which are big, dumb, slow creatures, are smart enough to cover their giant eyeball if you shoot it enough.
    • Lynels have a deadly cunning all of their own. They're excellent blacksmiths who know how to forge intricately-crafted shields and weapons, they'll eventually see through any disguises you use against them, and if you're trying to sneak up on them and get their attention, they'll spend a lot more time looking around for you than other enemies. Also, if you try to hide behind cover and snipe them from there, they'll simply aim their arrows upward and shoot you from an arc.
  • "It" Is Dehumanizing: Calamity Ganon is consistently referred to as "It", likely because knowledge that he Was Once a Man is almost completely lost to time. And those in the know like Urbosa aren't exactly inclined to be respectful towards him due to his evil actions making him a disgrace to the Gerudo.
  • Jerkass: Revali is not a nice guy, and belittles and insults Link every chance he gets. Unfortunately for him, getting killed by Windblight Ganon and having to watch Link take care of it forces him to eat a nice, big slice of Humble Pie. Then there's Hagie and Hunnie of Tarrey Town, who are just as rude as Revali but without his redeeming qualities.
  • Jerkass Facade: While he was outwardly harsh and callous towards Zelda, King Rhoam's journal reveals that he truly did love her, but had no idea how to help her awaken her powers and felt that he needed to act the part of a stern king and forcefully push her into succeeding. Unfortunately the facade worked too well, and caused her horrible emotional pain and likely could have been the very thing that prevented her from awakening her powers until it was too late.
  • Joke Weapon: Tree branches, mops, hoes, wooden spoons... if it isn't a conventional weapon, chances are it'll be wimpy and break almost immediately. Still, they're handy in a pinch during the very early game, where you need any weapon you can get until the really good ones start rolling in.
  • Jungle Japes: The Faron region, which is a massive expanse of jungle filled with tropical fruits, abandoned Mayan-style ruins, and home to swarms of Lizalfos.
  • Killer Robot: The Guardians, ancient Shiekah robots that have gone berserk due to Calamity Ganon corrupting them. The second anything enters their line and sight, they will relentlessly chase it down and blast it to death with their powerful lasers.
  • Kill It with Fire: Icy enemies will die in one hit when exposed to fire.
  • Kill It with Ice: Fiery enemies have the same weakness to ice weapons.
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: Grabbing everything you can take from defeated foes - be it rupees, weapons, food, gems, or Organ Drops - is highly recommended.
  • Large and In Charge:
    • King Dorephan is way bigger than the rest of the Zora. His son Prince Sidon is smaller, but still a lot taller than other members of their species.
    • Bludo is the Boss of the Gorons, and is bigger than the others.
  • Lethal Lava Land: Eldin, emphasis on "lethal", as Link cannot survive this place without magical protection. An no protection will prevent the lava itself from being lethal.
  • Lethal Joke Weapon: Kilton's Spring-Loaded Hammer is a hilariously weak weapon that deals very little damage, and feels like a cheap toy. But what it lacks in strength it makes up for in knockback, meaning that you can send Bokoblins and Lizalfos hurtling to their deaths by smacking them off of cliffs and mountainsides while preserving the durability of your other weapons.
  • Made of Evil: Calamity Ganon is practically an embodiment of pure hate, as are the Malice and the Blights.
  • Mecha-Mooks: Most Guardians have been corrupted and serve as Calamity Ganon's main source of muscle, with swarms of them guarding Hyrule Castle as well as patrolling large swathes of Hyrule Field. The only Guardians exempt are the miniature ones you fight in Shrines, which are aggressive but only because they serve as part of the trials the monks have set up.
  • Mechanical Abomination: Calamity Ganon is more of an Eldritch Abomination, but he has an unsettling technological aspect to him as well. His mass-infection and corruption of all the Guardians makes him come off as living malware, and the physical body he's built for his first phase looks like a rotting corpse made haphazardly out of decrepit old machine parts. The Blight Ganons are also malevolent masses of Malice energy and Guardian technology.
  • The Mindless Almighty: It is not explained why he became like that considering previous games of the series, but Ganondorf became incredibly powerful, being able even to rise the dead his servants under certain conditions, but lacking in a lot in sentience by becoming Calamity Ganon. He never talks and doesn't seem to exist for other purpose than try to conquer the kingdom, and in fact is never seen as a individual but a red-purple cloud which is made of pure malevolence.
  • Mighty Glacier: Lynels and Guardians aside, a general rule to follow is that the slower a monster moves, the harder it'll hit. And when you're fresh off the Plateau, getting hit by a Hinox or Talus in particular is pretty much instant death.
  • Miniature Senior Citizens: Impa is the size of a small child, as is Robbie. Pura is also over a hundred years old, but her small size comes from accidentally de-aging herself into a child.
  • Money Spider: Averted for the most part, given this game's love of the Reality Ensues trope. Most enemies won't drop Rupees upon dying like in past games since they're monsters who wouldn't understand their value. When you defeat a Yiga Clan member however, they'll teleport away and leave Rupees behind since they're humans who'd have a use for the money they carry.
    • There are also the Taluses, huge rock-monsters with ore-like growths on their body. They yield lots of gems when destroyed unlike their weaker Pebblit counterparts. Silver and gold monsters can also drop ores while dying, though this makes a lot less sense than with the Taluses. Presumably, the developers wanted to give you some incentive to hunt down and kill these living damage sponges.
    • There are also Blupees, which are odd blue spirits that look like a cross between an owl, a rabbit, and a moth. They're peaceful creatures that will bolt the moment they see you, but if you hit them they'll drop Rupees as a reward.
  • Mook Maker: Pools of Malice spit monsters out of their mouths when you approach.
  • Morse Code: Particularly observant players have noticed that before you activate their first terminals, the theme songs for the Divine Beasts contain morse code. Specifically two codes: one being an SOS signal either put out by the Champions before their deaths or the Divine Beasts themselves, and an SAD signal (search and destroy) from what's likely to be the Blight Ganons as they hunted the Champions they'd eventually kill.
  • Morton's Fork: When you meet a traveler who is secretly a Yiga member, he or she asks Link a question, and the player has to give one out of two answers. Doesn't really matter, however, as both answers result in the Yiga attacking Link. In one case, the Yiga offers to sell Link his Mighty Bananas; if Link doesn't buy them all, the Yiga gets upset at Link for insulting his wares and attacks him. If Link does buy all 99 of them, the guy's a little happier, but still attacks Link.
  • Mr. Fanservice: This is easily the sexiest Link has been in the series' history, and it shows: he starts the game in his underwear, and he gets to wear some surprisingly skimpy outfits that flatter his slender, athletic physique. The male Gerudo armor shows a lot of skin, as does the barbarian armor. And to get into Gerudo Town, you put his feminine good looks to use by having him crossdress in some midriff-baring Gerudo garb.
    • Sidon is another example, being an incredibly tall and handsome Zora who walks a fine line between being a pretty monster boy and a total Hunk.
  • Ms. Fanservice: In a game that isn't that sexual, Urbosa walks around wearing a Chainmail Bikini while using a scarf as a sarong. Every other Gerudo around her age is just as scantily-clad and gorgeous.
    • This game's Great Fairies are Big Beautiful Women with robust figures, skimpy outfits, and they are very flirty towards Link, usually hugging and kissing him when they level up his gear.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: It may go against everything the Great Deku Tree tells you, but the Master Sword is an awesome all-purpose tool. It may be the Sword That Seals The Darkness, but it's also an excellent lawnmower, pickaxe, and woodcutting tool! Sure, the latter two options will eat through its durability, but it doesn't take too long to repair itself, and you don't really need to use it outside of Guardian fights, Divine Beast exploration, and Hyrule Castle.
  • Nightmare Face: Wizzrobes don't look too bad from far away despite their wide, bulging eyes and fanged grins. You might even consider them unconventionally cute... until you get a close look at their overly detailed faces and wish you never did.
    • Magda also pulls off some seriously deranged facial expressions if you keep trampling on or destroying her flowers.
  • Neglectful Precursors: This whole crisis might have been avoided had the Ancients thought to put some sort of kill-switch on the remarkably easy-to-use technology they left lying around...
  • Nintendo Hard: Things start to even out once you get better equipment, but this game's start is a very rough one, and you're expected to adapt or die. Enemies are smart, they can hit extremely hard, and you'll constantly have to cycle through weapons since they always break after a while.
  • Non Sequitur Episode: The Legend of Zelda has three timelines, as detailed in The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, each depending on the outcome of Orcana of Time. Breath of the Wild is the only game not included in any of the three. Nintendo is purposely leaving it open to interpretation, and story-wise, it could fit all three. Possibly it is intended to merge all three. The update in Creating a Champion states that everything before the Breath of the Wild backstory has faded to myth, implying that, whatever the timeline, the backstory of this game takes place hundreds - maybe thousands - of years afterward.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: The evil Yiga Clan are decent fighters, but their obsession with bananas and over-the-top buffoon of a leader may lead you into thinking that they are just comical foes like the Bokoblins. But then you learn about Dorian's backstory as a former Yiga Clan member. The Yiga Clan, in response to his defection, killed his wife and now threaten to kill his children if he does not give up information about Link and Kakariko Village. Even when he complies to their wishes, the clan members decide to execute him for outliving his usefulness, and would have succeeded if Link had not intervened. Despite their goofy demeanor, they are still a ruthless and murderous cult carrying out Calamity Ganon's will.
  • Now You Tell Me: When you board one of the Divine Beasts, the captive Champion tries to give Link as much info on where to go as he or she can, but doesn't mention the boss at all until it actually appears. The first time this happens, you can practically hear Link saying the Trope name word-for-word.
  • Obviously Evil: Calamity Ganon, even more so than before. He's a swirling mass of magenta/black energy that vaguely looks like a demonic boar, and his physical body is that of a rotten corpse-like mess of robotics and Malice. Hard to mistake him for anything but evil.
  • Older Than They Look: Purah has the looks and size of a small child thanks to an experiment Gone Horribly Right. Finley also looks like a little Zora girl, but she's an adult whose growth spurt has yet to take effect, much to her dismay.
  • Orange-Blue Contrast: Sheikah Towers glow orange until Link activates them with his Sheikah Slate, then they turn blue. Shrines have three states: All orange to start with; then when opened by Link's Sheikah Slate, the base turns blue while the tip stays orange; finally, the tip turns blue when completed.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: The spirit dragons Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra are serpentine Eastern-style dragons, but have incredibly weird mammalian faces that make them look partially like mooses or llamas.
  • Our Ogres Are Hungrier: Hinoxes are the ogres to the Moblins' orcs and Bokoblins' goblins, and are ferocious, gluttonous beasts that tower over their weaker counterparts.
  • Our Orcs Are Different: Moblins are orclike thanks to their porcine appearances, brawny builds, and violent nature. But their long trunklike snouts and unicorn horns make for a very unique take on this trope.
  • Outside the Box Tactic: Many shrines can be completed like this, which is something the developers allow and encourage since completing them is meant to be a test your resourcefulness as well as your wits. Instead of carefully tilting a mazelike platform around and slowly maneuvering a ball towards a hole, you can flip the maze over, fling the ball away, and let the replacement ball roll into place down its flat, featureless underside. Other sneaky tactics include flinging yourself over gaps you'd normally be unable to jump across by blowing yourself up with your own bombs, using Electric Chu Jelly and electric weapons in tandem with metal weapons to create electrical currents, and weighing down switches and scales with heavy equipment you bought along with you.
  • Overly Long Gag: Every time Sidon pops up outside of Zora's Domain, he strikes a pose, smiles, and shows off his shiny teeth in a winning smile. Every single time. From the time you begin your trek to the domain all the way until you battle and infiltrate Vah Ruta, it happens at least a dozen times.
  • Panthera Awesome: Lynels, badass lion-centaurs that are some of the most dangerous enemies in the game.
  • Palmtree Panic: Lurelin Village is a quiet, peaceful beach town with palm trees, tropical fruit, and seafood galore. The coastal beaches in general also invoke this trope, as does Eventide Isle.
  • Plant People: The Koroks, as well as the Great Deku Tree.
  • Precision F-Strike: For the first time in the series' history, there's actually a bit of light swearing: specifically one instance of it. If you leave Vah Medoh before defeating Windblight Ganon, Teba will say "Dammit!" while grumbling about the injury he sustained fighting the Divine Beast.
  • Properly Paranoid: Brigo is deathly afraid of the world ending, and you can't really blame him since he's actually very in tune with the world around him: the activation of the towers and shrines following Link's awakening are genuine signs of Zelda's power waning, as is Calamity Ganon's increasing activity around Hyrule Castle.
  • Railroading: Usually averted given the game's open-ended nature, but you will stay on the Great Plateau until you're given the paraglider. There may be a few spots where you can safely climb down to the rest of Hyrule despite the Old Man's insistence that leaving safely is impossible, but you'll just be teleported back up to the Plateau until it's officially time to leave.
    • You also can't board the Divine Beasts until you've advanced the story in the areas they're wreaking havoc at. Trying to do so will end in failure.
    • You also have to talk to Impa first if you want to interact with Purah and Robbie, which keeps you from using the camera, looking for Link's memories, upgrading your Shiekah Slate's runes, or Robbie's Guardian-related equipment until then.
    • There's no cheesing the Yiga Clan Hideout by flying in through the back way: Kohga won't appear unless you go through the front door and work your way down as intended.
  • Rated M For Manly: The Gorons as a whole are the manliest race in Hyrule, and have a love of construction, metalworking, and fighting. The Goron Blood Brothers of Gut Check Rock go so over the top with it that they won't let Link so much as touch the shrine they're guarding until he proves just how badass he is.
  • Reality Ensues: While it's still a medieval fantasy game, Breath of the Wild goes for a more realistic approach with how it handles physics compared to other Zelda games.
    • Link isn't immune to Exposed to the Elements; his health will drain and he can even die of cold if you don't keep a heat source (like a flame) near him, or make him wear adequate clothes for cold. And if you don't have a way to cool him down in sweltering environments, he'll die from the heat. His wooden gear will even burst into the flames the deeper you go into the volcanic Death Mountain.
    • While lightning homing in on you and you specifically during thunderstorms is a bit much, it's still a very bad idea to carry around metal equipment during one in real life.
    • If it isn't a surface specifically made for climbing, rocks and mountains are hard to scale when they're wet, and climbing them while it's raining is an exercise in futility and frustration.
    • You aren't going to find arrows or rupees by cutting grass or breaking rocks, you're going to want to look in places that make sense (usually). If you want arrows, you have to kill bow-wielding monsters, break storage crates, or buy them from merchants. As for Rupees, you can usually get them by selling things, but you can also get them by defeating Yiga Clan members. Since they're humans, it makes sense that they'd be carrying money on them.
    • Falling into icy cold water is a death sentence, no matter how warmly dressed you are or how many warming drinks/food you've consumed.
    • Bomb Arrows are useless in the rain and on Death Mountain: a bomb with a wet fuse is pretty much a dud, and the ridiculous heat of a volcanic environment will set them off way before you'll want them to.
    • You better bring gear to keep you warm in the desert, because it gets cold at night. Very cold.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Lizalfos, for more than one reason. They're tougher than Bokoblins, and unlike Bokoblins, are good swimmers, often ambushing Link from water.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: The Entity inside the Horned Statue is a demon that makes deals with people. You could argue people were only foolish to make deals with him... until the point where he takes one of Link's heart containers to force him into a bargain.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: Zelda, seeing as she's sealed herself in order to keep Ganon sealed.
    • Also, the Sheikah monks, who have been inside the shrines in deep meditation for thousands of years until needed.
  • Shifting Sand Land: Gerudo Desert, as usual. In a twist of fate, it's surprisingly realistic in the sense that while it's unbearable hot during the day, it's also incredibly cold at night.
  • Shock and Awe: In a nutshell, being electrocuted in this game sucks. Not only do you get stunned, but you'll drop the weapon you're holding. Thankfully, you can use this against the monsters you fight.
    • Certain enemies will come in electric flavors such as Chu Chus, Keese, and Wizzrobes. Electric Wizzrobes also wield a special lightning-slinging rod that Link can use if he kills one.
    • Lizalfos and Lynels often carry Shock Arrows; Link can use them too, and they are useful against enemies in water. They are required for the battle against Divine Beast Vah Ruta.
    • Thunderblight Ganon is a lightning-themed boss, and its aggression and status as an incarnation of Calamity Ganon's wrath makes it a Psycho Electro as well.
    • Urbosa, Champion of the Gerudo has the ability to call down blasts of lightning to smite her foes, and her Divine Beast, Vah Naboris, can also rain down lightning. Once Thunderblight Ganon has been slain, Link gains Urbosa's Fury which allows him to borrow the Gerudo's lightning powers for his adventure.
  • Shrinking Violet: Not normally, but when she's around Link Paya becomes incredibly flustered and painfully shy.
  • Slasher Smile: Wizzrobes are always baring their fangs in a demented-looking grin. Oddly enough, the carvings on Vah Naboris' face also make it look like it's grinning ominously. Very fitting since you meet it while it's rampaging under Thunderblight Ganon's control.
  • Starfish Robots: The Guardians have six legs and cephalopod-like heads.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Urbosa is twice Link's height and inhumanly gorgeous, a trait shared by all Gerudo around her age.
  • Stout Strength: Riju's bodyguard Buliara has a stocky muscular gut and huge arms, making her come off as the female equivalent of a power-lifter. King Dorephan of the Zora is built similarly, and is known to have flung a Guardian off a cliff when it tried to attack Zora's Domain years back. And of course, the Gorons as a whole are as rotund and buff as they always are.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Link's ability to swim is handled rather realistically; he can swim as long as his stamina wheel holds out. However, he can swim just as well in plate armor as he can in a regular shirt and trousers. It's different for monsters: Bokoblins, Moblins, and undead enemies swim about as well as anchors, and it's relatively easy to defeat a group of them by luring them into water. The same goes for Guardians, but if you defeat them that way, you lose the loot they drop, which is often the biggest reason to fight them. Lizalfos, however, can swim like fish and often ambush Link from water.]
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
    • While Lynels have been a Zelda enemy since the NES original, the ones here are a lot like Darknuts in the sense that they're accomplished warriors who skillfully wield powerful weapons and require nothing less than masterful swordplay to kill.
    • Moldugas are huge reptilian monsters that you kill by feeding bombs, just like Dodongos.
  • Take Up My Sword: Link can weild the Champion weapons used by his fallen allies. After clearing each Divine Beast and saving the Champion's bound spirit, Link gets one from the leader of the Champion's race - the Boulder Breaker, Scimitar of the Seven, Great Eagle Bow, and Lightscale Trident. These weapons can break, but when that happens, the NPC who gave it to him can fix it using a Diamond and a lesser version of the weapon. Also, for the Final Battle, Zelda gives Link her Bow of Light.
  • Take Your Time: Yes, Link awakens right when Zelda's about to be overwhelmed after a century of holding back Calamity Ganon. But you're free to spend in-game months goofing off and exploring the world, solving shrine puzzles, and looking for Koroks to your heart's content. Calamity Ganon will never break free until you're ready to fight him.
  • Thirsty Desert: Literally the case with Gerudo Desert, where Link has to keep hydrated (or use special magic armor) to survive the brutal daytime heat.
  • Tin Tyrant: The Phantom Ganon and Phantom armors turn Link into this. He's still a friendly, somewhat goofy hero, but civilians will react to him in shock and fear before being talked to.
  • Token Loli: Riju, the preteen Gerudo queen and the youngest successor to the original Champions of Hyrule.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: The evil Yiga Clan really likes Mighty Bananas; Link can use them to distract members while infiltrating their hideout. Monk Maz Koshia - the Bonus Boss of the Champions Ballad DLC - loves them too, but unlike the Yiga, the distraction trick only works on him once.
    • A journal you find in the ruins of Hyrule Castle library states that Zelda's favorite dessert is fruitcake, and also has the recipe.
  • Trauma Inn: Played straight; buying the more expensive room at the inns at the four towns will actually increase your Health Meter above the current maximum, until you take damage. Certain rooms will also give you a temporary extra Stamina Wheel as well.
  • Trick Arrow: Link can use arrows that have elemental powers, like ice, fire and lightning. Bomb Arrows also make a return from Twilight Princess.
  • Tsundere: Revali shows shades of this in the aftermath of Windblight Ganon's death. It's clear that he's grateful towards Link for helping him out, but he'd rather die again than admit it. So when he's forced to acknowledge that Link's not the weakling he thought he was, he chalks his skill up to luck.
  • The Undead: It wouldn't be a Zelda game without them: skeletal versions of enemies like Bokoblins and Moblins will harass you at night, and the Sheikah Monks are living mummies. You get to fight one such mummified monk in the Champion's Ballad DLC as one of the game's toughest opponents.
  • Underground Monkey: Moblins and Bokoblins have Red (weakest), Blue, Black, Cursed, and Silver (toughest) varieties; Master Mode adds the even tougher Gold variety. Keese, Lizalfos, and Chuchus come in normal, Fire, Ice and Lightning varieties; Wizzrobes have the same types except “normal” as well as stronger variations of each elemental form: Meteor (Fire), Blizzard (Ice), and Thunder (Lightning). Octoroks have Water, Forest, Rock, Snow, Treasure, and Sky varieties. Talus and Pebblits have lava and ice variants.
  • Unique Enemy: Bears, which are incredibly rare and appear in a select few places over the vast expanse of Hyrule. They come in Honeyvore and Grizzlemaw varieties, but most players are likely to never see either unless they really go out of their way to explore.
  • Video Game Caring Potential: You see all those adorable dogs and beautiful horses? You can feed them and endear them to you, while you can also pet your horses in order to strengthen your bonds with them. One prominent sidequest chain also helps you establish a new town in the mostly-empty Hyrule, and culminates in you helping a man and woman get married.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential:
    • Want to torment Link? Undress him in the tundra, or force him to wear a full set of armor on Death Mountain. Not only is the poor guy going to die from the cold/heatstroke without proper protection, but he'll either be shivering or panting like crazy.
    • Epona was invincible in other games. The horses here (including Epona, if you summon her with an Amiibo) are not. While enemies can kill them, you can also do the deed yourself, and in a particularly stunning moment of cruelty you can ride them up to Death Mountain and watch as they burst into flames and burn to death.
    • You can't hurt any friendly NPC's, but you can freak them out by whacking them with your weapons, tossing bombs at them, or trying to set them on fire.
    • Fighting monsters can be an exercise in sadism: you can blast and blow them off of cliffs with bombs and Korok Leaves, you can electrocute them, burn them, freeze them, crush them under rocks and huge metal objects, drop beehives on their heads and watch them run around in a mad panic...
    • Ideally, you're supposed to catch fish by swimming after them and grabbing each individual fish... but you can easily say "screw it" and kill a bunch of them at once by shocking the water they're in or tossing a bomb at them.
    • In Kakariko Village, there's an old woman who is very proud of the plum trees she's raising and will flip out if you do anything to hurt them. Destroy all of them though, and she'll just be disappointed and sad. At least, until video game logic kicks in and they instantly regrow once you leave and come back to the village.
    • This is one of very few games where you can kill a Cucco! It takes a lot of time and effort (literal hours, at that), but with enough determination you can take a Cucco all the way to Death Mountain and fling it into the lava, completely destroying the poor bird with a satisfying sizzling sound.
    • When you find an NPC looking over the edge of one of the towers, you have the option of having Link sneak up behind him and shout, "BOO!" (Don't worry, he doesn't fall.)
  • Villainous Glutton: Hinoxes are fat ogres who clearly want to eat Link, given how they lick their chops when they see him, and most of the treasure you get from them is food.
  • Wandering Minstrel: Kass, a Rito bard who travels all of Hyrule serenading whoever will listen with a song and a pleasant accordion tune.
  • Weakened by the Light: Undead foes only come out at night, unable to stand the sun.
  • Wedding Day: Uh no, sorry everyone, not between Link and Zelda, or Link and Mipha, or whatever your ideal pairing is, but the final part of the "From the Ground Up" questline involves helping an NPC couple plan theirs.
  • Wham! Line: Practically every time you meet a traveler, and you discover who they belong to Yiga Clan, they drop one. Because they are a clan of ninja assassins whose whole purpose is killing Link, and after dropping the line they attack you.
  • You Don't Look Like You: In the tapestry art portraying the original battle against Calamity Ganon 10,000 years in the past, neither Link nor Ganon look like themselves: "Link" has long, flowing red hair instead of his usual blonde, and the presence of a blonde Zelda in the same art shows that it isn't merely a stylistic choice. As for Calamity Ganon, he has an odd draconic appearance that is nothing like any of the forms he takes. Ganondorf's appearance in the trailer for the sequel matches up oddly well with the depiction of "Link" thanks to his mane of long red hair, which has led to some fans wondering if somehow, he was the hero instead, and Calamity Ganon was originally a different entity altogether...
  • You Kill It, You Bought It:
    • Link can use the clubs of Bokoblins he kills, though sometimes you just need to knock the weapon from their hands.
    • When a pair of Bokoblins is cooking a piece of meat, Link can kill them and take their meat.
    • Taken to a literal level with the purple skull chests: you have to kill all the enemies in that area to be able to open it. You can drop a Bokoblin off a cliff but if he somehow survives landing down below, you have to drop his health to 0 to be able to open the chest.
  • Zero Effort Boss: Dark Beast Ganon is a hilariously slow behemoth whose one attack will never hit you unless you stay still and give him a clear shot. And even then, he can still miss you!
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